Chris Pika's Blog

Blog & Tackle: Notes on the Ravens' QB battle

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:41:08 GMT

Seeing Drew's blog about the "quarterback triangle" jogged my memory about something I had talked about on the Rob Long Show back in May just after the NFL Draft about how the QBs would be judged during the offseason and how a change in head coach can impact personnel decisions, especially when the starting QB was "tied at the waist" with the previous coach.

While working for the Saints, I saw Aaron Brooks, who was former head coach Jim Haslett's "guy" at QB, cut almost immediately before the start of free agency by new head coach Sean Payton in favor of seasoned veteran Drew Brees in 2006.

Everyone else who was on the roster from the year before had the opportunity to show if they wanted to work in a tough-love system of a first-time NFL head coach, rather than the player-friendly setup of the previous regime. Sound familiar? The Saints went from 3-13 in the Hurricane Katrina season of '05 to 10-6 and a berth in the NFC title game in '06.

With that in mind, here were the quarterback notes I sent to Rob off the air on May 2:

*****
Key points:
New staff and head coach.
New offensive scheme.
New way of conducting the business on and off-field.
Coaches look at tape of last season’s games (mostly), maybe some of practices and some of training camp (light look) to see how practices were conducted and how QBs looked then.

QBs judged on:
How previous staff used them … how did they handle success and adversity … attitude in locker room and classroom.
How do they “take” to the new scheme and way of doing things (are they resistant to change and struggle with “non-important” issues, or do they roll with it and perform?).
Tape of OTAs (non-contact – very important to note), QB School … talk to (not take advice of) vet leaders to get sense of how it is going.
Does a QBs style fit the system to be installed? … installation starts at first mincamp, goes through entire summer (lot of on-field work with no pads) … who has best grasp of playbook and best skills to run the new offense when training camp starts?

Other factors:
How Ozzie Newsome and personnel staff rates the QBs going in … his vote counts a lot.
No pressure on new staff to stick with previous regime’s “guy” out of loyalty … listen to, but NOT hear fans … make their own determination.
Personnel around QB could be markedly different than 2007 … how does that affect QBs comfort level and performance?

Quarterbacks:
Troy Smith -- last two games, there was no postseason "pressure" … could play loose and perform with “nothing to lose” – is that the real Troy? … has to concentrate on on-field work and off-field leadership … no letup allowed during the workouts, or Boller becomes best option at start of the season.

Kyle Boller -- does his skills and attitude fit the new scheme better than the old one under Brian Billick? (that is something we won’t see publically for the most part) … has to personally believe that he is the starter and work himself accordingly on the field and in the classroom by picking up the new playbook.

Joe Flacco -- has to pick up the playbook quickly and compete in all parts of on and off-field work … be a humble teammate, but battle for every snap. He is the QB of the Ravens’ future, but he can’t act like it in the locker room. Learn the business and compete.

Finally:
Someone will take the majority of reps when training camp begins … the decision is made over all of the above from first minicamp to last OTA, so it would be impossible to say right now and I think no coach would hazard a guess at the moment. The QBs will settle it themselves as someone will separate from the pack as the summer drags on by their work ethic and success.

*****
Now we get to find out which of the quarterbacks made the biggest impression away from the eyes of the public and media during on-field and classroom work during the past three months. And most important, the pads come on starting today, and practices become game-speed -- not just pitch-and-catch with no contact, like minicamp. Let the fun begin.

Blog & Tackle: Is there something about Brett?

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 21:40:17 GMT

Last week, I wrote a very hypothetical scenario in which currently-retired quarterback Brett Favre could become a Raven. The national media has begun to weigh in on the Packers’ sticky situation and where might Favre, if he asks to be reinstated from reserve/retired, could land by release or trade.

ESPN.com columnist Bill Williamson penned a piece over the weekend saying that Baltimore might be one of three attractive landing spots for Favre if he decides to return to the NFL for 2008. Could that really happen?

It might with three conditions: 1. Favre asks for his reinstatement and the Packers tell him that Aaron Rodgers is their starter in 2008 and that they will move on without him. 2. Green Bay is able to work a trade to a non-NFC contender (absolutely no trade to division rivals Chicago or Minnesota) or to a AFC team in need of a starting quarterback (Favre, after coming so close to the Super Bowl last year, won’t go to a non-contender). 3. The team acquiring Favre can accommodate his remaining salary (or re-negotiate) under that team’s current cap number.

My second assumption is tenuous, only because unless somebody really covets Favre’s rights, most teams know the Packers are in a major pickle if Favre pushes the button to return and might wait until he is released, rather than give up a mid-round draft pick for what might be a one-year setup.

Here are my reasons why Favre might be a good fit in a Ravens uniform this season and some questions to ponder.

Reasons For Favre:
Favre is a proven winner at QB coming off a MVP-type season.

Ravens have a veteran team, but there are short-term questions at QB.

Team brass thinks club has one playoff run left as currently constituted.

Team is probably a year away from highly drafted rookie Joe Flacco taking over.

Flacco and Troy Smith could spend the year learning from Favre’s experience.

Acceptance of change has been the hallmark of the Ravens offseason and this would be one more step in that direction.

Questions:
Can Favre follow 2007’s output at close to the same level?

How will a strong-willed quarterback, who is now putting his current team in a very tough situation, mesh with first-time NFL head coach John Harbaugh and the “team-first” culture he has put in place?

New staff spent entire offseason installing Cam Cameron’s new offensive system. Can Favre succeed with the new playbook, or would the Ravens have to make wholesale changes in training camp?

Do the Ravens have the necessary weapons -- offensive line and receivers -- to give be successful with Favre under center?

Does Favre’s presence make that much of a difference in the AFC North to push the Ravens over the top or enough to capture a Wild Card berth?

The key unanswered question: Which Ravens team does the organization think was the real one -- the 2006 division winners or the down-on-its-luck 2007 edition? If the club believes 2006 was real and 2007 was the aberration, then GM Ozzie Newsome should look at the possibility. If 2007 was the better indication of how far the club is away from the postseason, then Baltimore should pass on Favre and continue with the current plan.

The national media circus would be incredible to behold at training camp, but is certainly manageable with Favre’s cooperation. Favre and the Ravens would be a quickie marriage in the shotgun sense -- everyone would have to get along quickly and bear down harder to succeed.

Harbaugh would have a great challenge right out of the gate, but the reasons the Ravens hired him would give him an edge: someone supremely focused on the “team” concept, who views coaching as a one-on-one process with each player and who knows the players -- and himself -- all have something to prove going into 2008.

Something to prove? Favre would have that motivation in spades if the Packers decide to move on without him. A desire to prove the Green Bay organization wrong, a desire to shut up those who think he should have stayed retired and most of all, a desire to win a Super Bowl that he captured once and was oh-so-close from trying to win it again almost six months ago.

Favre could stay retired in Mississippi or the Packers could welcome him back if he decides to return. One of those two possibilities is certainly in play here. Could Favre come to Baltimore? On the surface, the possibility is very hypothetical. But, did anyone outside of the Ravens’ hiring committee really see Harbaugh as the club’s new coach back in January instead of Jason Garrett?

Blog & Tackle: Not the retiring type

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 14:21:46 GMT

Ask any professional athlete in any sport about the toughest thing to do, and the answer is simple: Walk away from the game. No more cheers, no more perks, just a new career if you are a lineman, or daily golf and family time if you are a quarterback.

But a funny thing happens around July of the first year you are out of the game in the NFL. Your body and mind begins to think about training camp, the locker room with your teammates, the feeling of being in the huddle again.

Such a scenario is playing through the mind of Brett Favre as he thinks about life after football. His will-he or won’t-he story is familiar to anyone who follows the league, so we’ll cut to the chase. What happens next?

Simply put, Favre can make Green Bay GM Ted Thompson the villain. If Favre asks to be reinstated, the Packers can reinstate him to the roster, attempt to trade him or release him from the two years left on the contract.

Remember, the Packers came one Favre interception short of the Super Bowl. The fans in Green Bay and Favre’s teammates know how close they came to playing the Patriots instead of the Giants. The team reportedly tried to get him to come back in March, but Brett convinced them he was through. So, the Packers moved on with Aaron Rodgers as the new man in charge in the huddle.

Thompson is in a tough spot. If the Packers are truly committed to moving on and Favre is committed to play in 2008, then it’s trade or release the superstar QB. In either case, I wouldn’t put too many personal items in my office or put a long mortgage on a house in Green Bay, if I am Thompson. There is some trade value for Favre, especially for a team that might need a rental quarterback for a year.

If not Green Bay, then where for #4? Thompson would be strung up by the Packers faithful if he trades him to a division opponent -- say Chicago or Minnesota. A team in need of a quarterback for one or two seasons before a younger man takes over could be a logical trade partner. Do you know of such a franchise? Atlanta, with Chris Redman as the starter, where Favre began his career and where owner Arthur Blank needs to fill seats in the post-Michael Vick era could be a possibility. Rookie Matt Ryan is probably a year away from being ready, and the Falcons will have problems winning six games.

How about Favre in purple and black? Thompson, to appease the Packers fans, would have to think about not putting him with a team that is in competition with Green Bay to return to the NFC Championship Game. Favre, either by trade or release if he really wanted to play this year, would probably want to go to a team that needed a veteran quarterback to get over the hump and make a playoff run.

The Ravens feel they have a playoff run left with a team full of veterans, but questions about who is the best fit at quarterback in 2008. Joe Flacco, like Ryan, is probably a year away from starting full-time. Would the Ravens roll the dice to start the John Harbaugh era in Baltimore if the opportunity presented itself? What would that move do to a competitive AFC North? Both are intriguing questions, but very, very hypothetical.

This soap opera will play itself out quickly over the next two weeks. Favre texted “It’s all rumor” to his hometown newspaper in southern Mississippi on Thursday night. Notice he didn’t say, “I’m not playing this year -- I’m retired.” It’s a non-denial denial. He wants to play again and the natural conclusion is that either he will remain retired because the Packers make it clear to Favre and his agent that they have moved on, and Favre does not want to play outside of Green Bay, or the Packers blow up their future plans and return Favre to his starting spot.

If Favre is in shape mentally and physically to play in 2008, and the Packers are not interested in his services and prepared for the fans’ wrath, then the next move could be what Steve McNair did in Tennessee -- force a release to finish his career in another uniform. But which one?

Blog & Tackle: A small personal tribute

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:19:57 GMT

If I could impose on the WNST community for a moment, I wanted to mark the passing of my uncle, Albert, earlier on Tuesday. "Uncle Al" was just a regular guy, an Army veteran, a blue-collar supply truck driver who shared an enjoyment of sports with me – one that was passed down to us from his father -- my grandfather.

Al cheered for the Ravens, Orioles, watched sports on TV and rooted for whatever team or school I worked for. He proudly wore a Saints or Falcons hat to work at Porters Supply Company and got a kick out of stories from the Super Bowls and other events I was a part of. Every Sunday, he got a call from whatever city I was in to tell him about the game and check to see how the Ravens did.

He never really understood the business of sports, but always said he’d play gladly quarterback for the Ravens to make the kind of money NFL players get these days. He thought that he could do just as well as Kyle Boller or Steve McNair.

“I could throw an interception just like he did and get paid that kind of dough,” he said several times to me when the Ravens were on the losing end this past season. I got a laugh from thinking about a 60-plus-year-old man in a Ravens jersey and glasses taking a snap from center and cashing the paycheck.

One of my fondest memories was my trip back home with the Falcons to play the Ravens in 2006. He and my mom had pregame sideline passes and he got to see an NFL game up close and meet many of those I worked with in Atlanta. I enjoyed watching his reactions to the preparation each team goes through and the sheer size of the modern-day NFL players.

It was the last time I saw him in person, but we spoke every Sunday (and many days in-between) just the same and traded stories, jokes and talked about the games.

In short, he was no different than any of us who are from Baltimore. Family and the ties that bind -- which include sports -- were important to him. He enjoyed hunting and fishing and the people he worked with at Porters. A simple man with simple tastes of laughter, love and sports.

All of us have an “Uncle Al” in our lives somewhere. It might be the crazy cousin, or the aunt who dresses in purple on Sundays, the brother-in-law who has Ravens tickets in the upper deck and invites you to go once in a while or just a regular fan like the late “Wild Bill” Hagy, whose birthday is today.

Or like Al, someone who didn’t step inside a modern facility outside of Memorial Stadium but just a few times, who followed by way of the television, radio and newspaper, sat on the stoop in the summer and listened to the Orioles game on the radio in a simpler time -- someone who would have enjoyed the debates about who is the “King of Baltimore Sports.” (For his money, it was Johnny U. while I thought Brooks was the man.)

One of our last conversations was after Jim McKay passed away. “They don’t make them like him anymore,” he said. “But, we’re all getting old.” How true.

“Hey, it’s just a game,” he would remind me after tough losses left me in a not-so-great mood on the team bus when I called from the road or the press boxes in New Orleans or Atlanta. Then, we shared a laugh about something silly and caught up about how the week before went for both of us and how my wife was doing. Then he would eventually ask, “Where are you next Sunday?”

Where I will be this coming Sunday is honoring the memory of a gentle soul who was one of the many people who make up the unique fabric of Baltimore. He was a worker and a grinder who never asked more from life than to enjoy the simple things it offered and the occasional winning daily lotto ticket.

Thanks for the good times and Godspeed, Uncle Al. I’ll carry all of those Sundays with me always.

--Chris Pika

Blog & Tackle: Jim McKay 1921-2008

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 15:36:03 GMT

Jim McKay, the Baltimore-raised sportscaster, who went on to fame as the host of ABC's Wide World of Sports and 12 Olympic Games, passed away on Saturday morning at his home in Monkton at the age of 86.

McKay, who moved to Baltimore at 15, graduated from Loyola Blakefield and Loyola College and later went into the infant medium of television after a stint as a reporter for the Baltimore Evening Sun. He joined WMAR-TV (then owned by The Sun) in 1947 and was the first voice ever heard on television in Baltimore.

He remained with WMAR until 1950, when he went to CBS in New York as a host of a variety show, The Real McKay -- a play on the term "the real McCoy." He changed his last name professionally from McManus to McKay at the insistence of a network bigwig. Through the 1950s, his primary assignment at CBS became sports commentary.

After covering the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome for CBS, he moved to ABC, where he started with Wide World of Sports in 1961.

McKay will be best remembered for his coverage of the kidnapping and massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympic Games on Sept. 5, 1972. He rushed to ABC's set after a morning swim, pausing to throw on a shirt, tie and his ABC blazer over his swim trunks before going on the air. He spent most of the next 16 hours relaying information from ABC Sports president Roone Arledge while the drama unfolded. After a rescue attempt was botched at the Munich airport, McKay said this on the air:

"When I was a kid my father used to say our greatest hopes and our worst fears are seldom realized. Our worst fears have been realized tonight. They have now said there were eleven hostages; two were killed in their rooms yesterday morning, nine were killed at the airport tonight. They're all gone."

In later years, he was the founder of the Maryland Million, a series of 12 races designed to promote Maryland's horse breeding industry. The day-long program has grown to become a major racing event in Maryland, second only to the Preakness. The 23rd edition of the Maryalnd Million will run at Laurel on Oct. 4.

McKay's narration of the opening of ABC's Wide World is still a classic in the history of TV sports programs:

"Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport. The thrill of victory ... and the agony of defeat. The human drama of athletic competition ... This is ABC's Wide World of Sports!"

McKay is survived by his wife of 59 years, the former Margaret Dempsey, a former columnist for the Evening Sun; his son, Sean, the president of CBS News and Sports; a daughter, Mary, of Sparks, Md.; and three grandchildren.

Blog & Tackle: What's in a name?

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:45:23 GMT

The word Baltimore conjures up many images, depending on who you ask. If you are a fan of movies or television, you might immediately come up with titles such as “Diner”, “Homicide: Life on the Street” or “The Wire.” Music fans would recognize such diverse talents as Eubie Blake, Frank Zappa, David Byrne or even Mario. It just depends on your frame of reference.

For most sports fans 50 or younger outside of the Baltimore area, the word is usually followed by one of three responses: Colts, Orioles or Ravens. Each of the three name combinations provokes a different response: Johnny Unitas and the black high-top shoes for the Colts, most likely Cal Ripken and “The Streak” for the Orioles and Ray Lewis and the Super Bowl XXXV champions for the Ravens.

For those of us who grew up in Baltimore and identified closely with the city name and the teams, the responses are more individual and personal based on age and what kinds of sports were followed. That is why the “King of Baltimore Sports” has spurred such intense debate about who is worthy to be included in the list of the top 32 names of the last 50-plus years. Each name is a memory and each big game is a shared moment across a city and region.

It is in that spirit of civic pride against the seeming love affair by the national sports media with all things New York and Boston along with the natural Baltimore fans’ hatred of sports teams from Pittsburgh, Washington and Philadelphia that the leaked announcement of a change in uniforms for the Orioles has brought some measure of joy to those who root, root, root for the home team in the most passionate of ways.

The word “Baltimore” will return to the Orioles’ road jerseys in 2009 for the first time since the end of the 1972 season. Again, in the eye of the beholder this is either a big deal or much ado about nothing. If you are in your mid-40s, you can remember a time when the brothers Robinson along with Weaver, Palmer, etc., wore the orange city name across the grey road uniforms during the team’s glory years. If you are younger than 40, most likely your baseball memories have “Orioles” on every uniform, home and road, including the days of Ripken and Murray.

It is no different than the split of football memories in Baltimore, the Colts of 1953-83 and the place they held in the collective identity of a city in the late 1950s and 1960s and the current Ravens, here since the 1996 season. Older fans have the world championships of 1958, 1959 and 1970 and the many hall of famers to reminisce about, and fans today have a rebirth of football in Baltimore and a Super Bowl title to go with it.

In between those two eras was the civic despair of having the name Colts ripped from the word Baltimore in the middle of the night, and the attempt of the NFL to stuff the Washington Redskins down the throat of a still-raw city in the interim between Colts and Ravens.

All of this drama could be contained in a museum -- the one NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue wanted the city to build instead of trying to regain membership in the league. The museum was built, but not the one Tagliabue wanted. Sports Legends at Camden Yards stands a tribute to all things sports in the history of Baltimore in the heart of a city skyline changed by its professional teams. It is there we can remember and discover the past while walking to the future at Oriole Park and M&T Bank Stadium. And it is there where your selection of King of Baltimore Sports will be crowned later this summer.

What’s in a name? In the memories and the debate about the 32 finalists for the honor, we salute the all of the names on the backs of the jerseys that carried the cheers and hopes of those who were represented by one word attached to each one of them, regardless of sport, nickname or colors -- Baltimore.

Blog & Tackle: A clean trip in a game of shadows

Tue, 20 May 2008 17:48:31 GMT

Before you get caught up in Big Brown fever, as the 3-year-old heads to the Belmont Stakes with a chance to win the Triple Crown, take a moment to look at the sport through a different lens.

Everyone who watched the running of the Preakness at Pimlico, whether at the track or on TV, gave silent thanks when the race finished and there were no on-track mishaps on the scale of Barbaro or Eight Belles. The very sad moments when a horse breaks down on the track and has to be euthanized, especially in front of thousands of fans who watch only the Triple Crown races and maybe the Breeders’ Cup, are the fear of horsemen and track owners. It was a "clean trip" for all concerned.

The sport, which has seen its' standing among American sports fall after the golden decades from the 1920s through the 1950s, is trying to be relevant again to a generation that mostly goes to the Preakness to party in the infield and won’t set foot on Old Hilltop or any Maryland racetrack during the rest of the year. Their gaming options are many: the lottery, Keno, sports betting, slots in neighboring states, Atlantic City, etc. Spending a day at the track, looking at the Daily Racing Form, handicapping the races is something that seems quaint to do by the "old-timers" seen around the rail.

Racing, by way of simulcast betting options at the track and at internet betting at home and work, has tried to change with the times to capture the dollars needed to give better purse totals and improve the game. The battle for slot machines is well-chronicled and best left to explain by those who have a better understanding of the issues involved in the debate.

The curtain on horse racing has been pulled open in the past few years, and the shadows "behind the curtain" have mostly not been good for the game. From jockeys' health conditions due to trying to make weight each day and the constant threat of serious injury, to deplorable living conditions for track workers who migrate from plant to plant during the year, the debate on natural vs. synthetic track surfaces and the selective breeding of horses that may have weakened the stock to the point that injuries are more common -- the underbelly of racing that everyday players and horsemen know about, but rarely talk about publically, is exposed in today’s 24-hour news cycle.

The latest and most disturbing was the column on Big Brown's trainer Rick Dutrow, done by Rick Maese of The Sun last week before the Preakness. It gave a peek into the world of horse trainers, who like athletes in team sports, maybe look for an edge where they shouldn't.

Now, anabolic steroids are legal for horses in several states, including Maryland. National Thoroughbred Racing Association president Alex Waldrop said before Congress earlier this year that a ban on those compounds could be in place by the end of 2008.

"Let me be clear," Wardrop testified. "Anabolic steroids have therapeutic value in treating racehorses. They are most often prescribed when a horse is recovering from illness or surgery. However, horsemen, tracks and breeders all agree that racehorses should not compete on anabolic steroids ...”

Maese questioned Dutrow on the effect Winstrol -- a steroid -- has on the horses under his care, Dutrow gave a response that goes along the lines of Roger Clemens' "misremembering" and Bill Belichick's "misinterpretation."

"You'd have to ask the vet what the purpose of that is," he said. "I don't know what it does. I just like using it." Huh?

Dutrow also gave the same response to NBC’s Bob Costas, who asked him about it prior to the Preakness post parade. (By the way, give Costas credit for asking the question and to both NBC and ESPN for tackling the bigger issues during programs on Preakness Day.)

Again, Winstrol is not a banned substance for horses, but neither were steroids in baseball until a few years ago. The players (including Rafael Palmeiro, who was linked to use of Winstrol) had a choice of what to put in their system by pill or injection and knew what it would do for them. Horses have no such choice -- the trainers make the call for the animal.

The use of Bute and Lasix in horses has also been debated. Does Bute halt the horse's ability to feel pain when racing? Is Lasix more than just a respiratory "bleeder" medication, but a drug used to help horses breathe better and a "masking agent" for other illegal substances? Is it bending or breaking the rules?

Certainly, Dutrow and other trainers know every thing that goes into a horse's system in preparation to race. Nothing is left to chance, especially for a horse in Big Brown that is now worth over $50 million at stud once his racing days are through.

Dutrow has seen his share of troubles, with fines and suspensions in each of the last eight years for doping-related offenses, including a $500 fine in Florida for illegal amounts of Bute in a horse's system. According to the Sun’s story, his horses have also tested positive for illegal amounts of a respiratory drug and Lasix. He is not the only trainer with fines and suspensions for those types of activities -- just the most famous one right now.

The industry can hope that a Big Brown victory at the Belmont will bring back the glamour lights to a game much in need of a horse to cheer and tickets to cash. And in the glow of the Triple Crown, maybe some much-needed light will be shone into the dark corners of the game and disperse the shadows that follow these great equine athletes.

Blog & Tackle: Interesting moves and disinformation

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:34:23 GMT

Depending on who you believe, the Ravens either did or did not offer a trade to St. Louis for the Rams' selection at No. 2 overall in Saturday’s first round of the NFL Draft, one that reportedly would have put Matt Ryan of Boston College in a Ravens uniform. For those interested in the inner workings of club draft rooms, this is a great example.

The best part of draft weekend for me when I worked for the Saints and Falcons was the amount of intrigue involved in information and disinformation coming out of pre-draft press conferences (or "liar’s luncheons") and phone calls back and forth between personnel people, especially during the final week prior to the event. I have said this many times: How you know a NFL general manager or head coach is lying the week before the draft? "His lips are moving."

A great example is this: In his blog on BaltimoreRavens.com, Senior VP Kevin Byrne talked about the process of how the Ravens moved around in the first round to get their guy. He mentioned that there were national media reports that Baltimore was trying to do a deal with St. Louis to get to the No. 2 spot.

One such report actually came today when SI.com's Peter King, in his Monday Morning Quarterback web column, said: "Shortly after noon (Saturday), Baltimore GM Ozzie Newsome offered St. Louis first-, second- and fourth-round picks this year and a third-rounder in 2009 for the Rams' first-round pick. In essence, to move up six spots in the first round, Baltimore was offering the 38th and 106th pick this year and, say, around the 80th pick next year. Tempting, St. Louis thought. So the Rams called Atlanta, at number three, asking for a second-round pick this year to swap spots. If St. Louis traded with Atlanta, the Rams would pick up a free first-day pick and still get Chris Long. If the Rams traded with Baltimore, they'd lose out on Long, the only legit pass-rusher they liked in this draft."

King went on to say that the Ravens' offensive coordinator Cam Cameron loved Ryan, but also liked Flacco and Henne and that Cameron thinks Flacco might have the traits and the arm to be special, Harbaugh wanted picks for a haul of talent for the new staff to work with and that the Rams turned down the offer about five minutes before the start of the draft.

Now for the intrigue. Byrne said he had been in the Ravens' draft room and that there was no indication of a deal working between Baltimore and St. Louis. His verdict was that St. Louis leaked the "trade" info to get the Falcons to move one space from No. 3 to No. 2 to secure Ryan and for St. Louis to gather picks.

Two things of interest here: Rams' VP of personnel Billy Devaney was the former assistant GM of the Falcons until February of this year and King worked from the Falcons' media area in Flowery Branch and had access to the Falcons’ decision makers (who may have leaked or confirmed the "trade" details given by the Rams). Devaney, knowing his former bosses and some of the Falcons' early draft plans, probably knew how to push some buttons in Atlanta (see my point about disinformation above).

The way it goes down is much like a poker game. The Rams call the Falcons and say in a nutshell, "Baltimore really wants Matt Ryan and has offered trade terms X. We are interested because Chris Long is our guy, we don’t need a QB and we could use the extra picks. What do you want to do? " If you believe Byrne’s version, and I do, then the whole thing is a bluff by Devaney to get the Falcons to panic and jump one spot. In the end, Atlanta stood firm and the top three went off the board in the order most expected.

Now, about the "leak" from St. Louis to NFL Network and ESPN. Byrne makes an excellent point in his blog about how the info game is played and how connected reporters figure into the mix, especially on draft weekend:

"And, we do look to the media for information, and reporters are scouted. For example, when we read a reporter from ESPN.com or see someone on TV from ESPN who is giving a nugget about the Patriots likely 1st choice, Ozzie might say, 'That guy talks with (Bill) Belichick all the time. That’s good information.' That info then gets filed. And reporters will offer teams information in hopes of getting some nugget that will make them appear brighter. But, this is how confusing it gets. Late yesterday (Friday) afternoon, one of the best known national reporters texted me that he knew 'almost for a certainty that St. Louis would take Virginia’s Chris Long with the 2nd pick in the 1st round, and that Atlanta would take Ryan.' Less than a half hour later, a reporter known to all sports fans called Oz to say, 'You can book this: the Rams are taking Long and the Falcons are jumping up and down because they’re getting Glenn Dorsey (LSU defensive tackle).'"

Byrne continues: "Now, the two reporters who gave us this information are sharing with us in hopes we give some info back that might make them look smarter when they are called upon to talk about the Ravens' pick. For Ozzie, what does the information mean? These are two well-connected reporters, and they’re giving conflicting information less than 24 hours before the draft. What does Oz do with the info? 'In the end, there is information overload. It's conflicting. It can discourage you and it can give you false hopes. We always go back to our board and take the next best player when it is our turn,' Newsome explained."

The Rams kept up the charade with a quote from an unnamed St. Louis executive in King's column. He writes: "It was a really hard decision,'' said one of the Ram execs in the (draft) room. "But it was more about our belief in Chris Long and the fact that we thought he was the perfect pick for us more so than anything else. Anybody else but Chris Long, and we'd probably have done it. But when we walked out of the room and made the phone call to Baltimore, we were in 100 percent agreement that it was the right decision."

Now, do you believe the Ravens' version or King's? Or is the truth somewhere in the middle? One thing is for sure, the Ravens have quarterback Joe Flacco and the fruits of the weekend’s work for the Ravens and the other 31 NFL clubs will be seen over the next few years.

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Speaking of Sports Illustrated, there is a cover story about the Colts' 1958 NFL Championship game victory over the Giants from the perspective of how Baltimore's Raymond Berry changed the wide receiver position and how his overall preparation -- unheard of then, but standard now -- helped the modern day game evolve. Read it here. Can you believe it’s been 50 years since the day Baltimore sports came of age?

Blog & Tackle: This and That ...

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 20:19:09 GMT

Inside of the final week before the NFL Draft -- as a former NFL GM once said, "The hay is in the barn." Most of the mock drafting in team personnel offices is done, now it's just phone calls between teams, GMs, coaches -- all looking to get info or spread rumors and innuendo. How can you tell if a NFL big-wig is lying this week? Their lips are moving.

As for the Ravens, I'd love to be a fly on the wall when the final mocks are played out in the draft room. "If Team X picks Player Y, then we will pick Player Z ..." Sometimes the best draft picks never made happen during the process.

GMs have to trust their scouts -- who have watched these guys all year long, their video of players -- they can see who gives max effort and who came to the Combine or Pro Day workouts in worse shape and attitude than the season and their gut -- years and years of studying players, position and schemes to figure out the right move to make.

Who we think the Ravens will take on Saturday could change at least seven times internally before Baltimore is up at No. 8 overall. Heck, Miami is more interested in signability than overall talent at No. 1.

Saturday is like Christmas morning for NFL teams. You know that there are presents under the tree with your name on them -- the question is: What will you get when you unwrap them? The anticipation is the best part of the day.

Thank you NFL, for cutting the time in the first round to 10 minutes from 15 and from 10 to seven minutes in round two on Saturday. It's a long day to be mesmerized by Mel Kiper's hairdo to begin with. Last year's first round took six hours and eight minutes to be complete. Commissioner Roger Goodell said, "This is a record we really don't want to break," and he meant it with the changes implemented.

Nice series win for the Orioles over the Yankees. Anytime you can take two of three over New York, it’s a great weekend, indeed. There is a long way to go in the 2008 season, but on the surface, the Orioles have been entertaining. It's too early to say if the Orioles will keep up the progress, but they have the right man in charge for a young group in Dave Trembley.

Speaking of baseball, for those like myself who live a long way from the hometown, XM Radio is a great thing to have in the car. I have been able to keep up with the Orioles and listen to some of the tremendous voices of the game like Vin Scully, Bob Uecker and Marty Brennaman. It's a great way to pass the time when you are in the car on a summer evening.

Here's hoping the Capitals can force a Game Seven against the Flyers. The victory on Saturday at home was fun to watch and the Caps played with a measured intensity that they will need in Philly to get to a deciding game.

As for the Wizards, well, LeBron James looks unstoppable and Washington does not have an answer for him right now. The Wizards need a Game Two victory in Cleveland, or they will be well on their way to elimination by the Cavs for the third straight postseason.

Final question: Who do you think the Ravens take at No. 8? Do they move up to get their guy? If they don’t take a QB in the first round, what will be your reaction?

Blog & Tackle: NCAA Opening-Round Game to have Maryland flavor

Sun, 16 Mar 2008 20:53:08 GMT

The NCAA has announced that Coppin State will take on Mount St. Mary's in the NCAA Division I opening-round game set for Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio, and televised at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN.

The NCAA traditionally takes the two lowest-rated teams and unfortunately, it means one of the teams from the state will not make it to the actual field of 64.

The good news is that the game is nationally televised and that the country can see two teams that had decidedly different runs to the NCAA tournament.

Coppin State is 16-20 and the only team in the field with a losing record. The Eagles were 4-19 after 23 games and won 12 of their final 13 games, including four in four days to qualify.

Mount St. Mary's, 18-14 overall, was 9-3 over their final 12 games in capturing the Northeast Conference title.

By the way, a familar face to local basketball fans will be seen later today during the NCAA selection show. Tom O'Connor, the chair of the Division I Men's Basketball Championship Committee and the athletic director at George Mason, was the former AD at Loyola College from 1976-86. He also served as the Greyhounds' head coach from 1974-76.

Congrats to UMBC, Coppin State and Mount St. Mary's for their accomplishments this season. Congrats also to Morgan State, whose regular-season MEAC title gives them an automatic bid to the NIT.

I have just heard about a third postseason tournament this year -- the College Basketball Invitational. The 16-team tourney will battle with the NIT for at-large teams, and in an interesting twist -- the two finalists will play a best-of-three series for the title.

Is it a positive that two Maryland teams are on national TV on Tuesday or it is unfair to Mount St. Mary's to be in the play-in game? What do you think? Leave a comment below ...

Chris

Blog & Tackle: Combine not just another meat market

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 04:14:10 GMT

The National Invitation Camp, better known as the NFL Scouting Combine gets underway in Indianapolis on Wednesday. The Combine is a crazy mix of physical exams, workouts, media interviews and a major introduction to the world of the NFL.

For the players, it’s an intense four-day gauntlet that is a job interview at its core. Each position group’s schedule goes like this: Day 1 -- Travel to Indianapolis, registration, hospital pre-exam and X-rays, orientation and team interviews. Day 2 -- Measurements, medical examinations, media interviews, psychological testing and team interviews. Day 3 -- NFLPA meeting, psychological testing and team interviews. Day 4 -- Individual workout (timing, station and skill drills) and departure from Indianapolis.

I covered the Combine last year for the Falcons’ web site and it’s amazing to see how the players can perform under the kind of scrutiny they get from head to toe. The physical exams take about three hours as team doctors from each club in groups examine the players. One change in recent years is that the exams happen two days prior to the on-field drills since players complained that the exams and strength testing took too much out of them.

The players also go in a room in just a pair of shorts in front of an auditorium full of GMs, coaches and scouts. A club employee (each team sends a group of scouts, doctors, video crew to share the administration of the Combine equally) measures the player (height, weight, reach, etc.) and calls out the numbers to the waiting officials. No “media guide” heights and weights -- just the true numbers.

When the players finally take the floor of the RCA Dome, they are not met by cheers or boos by a sellout crowd. They are met with silence as they go about their business.

There are about 200 club employees in the stands, each seemingly armed with a stopwatch and a clipboard. Position coaches watch their groups, while head coaches and GMs watch those groups they are most interested in.

The only sound during the individual drills and the 40-yard dash is the beep of stopwatches started and stopped in unison. Then, heads drop to write the time down on their clipboards and wait for the next man up.

During the Combine, the NFL Players’ Association holds its’ yearly meeting for certified player agents. So, every Rosenhaus, Segal, etc. roams the halls to “hypothetically” speak with GMs about “hypothetical” free agents, since March 1 is just around the corner and official discussions can’t begin between clubs and free agents until then.

The media -- almost 400 strong this year, including WNST’s own Nestor Aparicio and Casey Willett -- also have a chance to talk with the agents in the hallways about where their clients might go and who will represent the top players at the Combine.

The media also gets to hear from several coaches and GMs at the media podiums during the Combine as well as more informal and off-the-record discussions in the hallways about 2008 plans.

The over 300 Combine invitees also have to survive one of the biggest parts of the trip -- the team interviews in the evenings. Each team submits a list of players they want to interview and the Combine staff set up each player’s interview schedule over the three nights they are available.

Clubs try to get an idea of what a player is like personally -- “looking them in the eye” as one GM put it. Players are well-coached by their agents about how to interview, but team employees have the advantage of many years of practice along with the results of the psychological tests like the famous Wonderlic.

Remember, the Combine is not make-or-break for the players. Each one has been evaluated by every team on their season in-game tapes over both their junior and senior seasons, any postseason all-star games (and the workouts leading up to them), interviews with college head coaches and position coaches and a background check with local law enforcement in the players’ college towns.

Don’t get hung up on the measurables and 40 times given out. The major thing that hurts any individual player’s draft stock is if they come in worse shape to Indy than they looked either in-season or at the all-star games. Even those who show up for interviews and don’t run or workout are not hurt since they will do both at their college Pro Days which take place after the Combine and before the NFL Draft.

The Combine is just one part of the overall evaluation made by potential employers, who have a lot to digest in the few remaining weeks before they enter their draft rooms in late April and go “on the clock.”

Blog & Tackle: Leverage and the art of the "prom date" ...

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 18:17:43 GMT

Job searches are conducted all over the country -- thousands of them, in fact, every day in complete anonymity. The Baltimore Ravens are searching for a new employee, not in marketing or in ticket sales, but for the very public position of head coach.

Because the position is public and is one of the “faces” of the organization to the outside world, the search is being conducted in public -- or as public as it can be without sitting in Steve Bischotti’s office with him and his candidate of choice during the interview.

The job searches we all have gone through in our lives follow the same predictable path – resume sent, phone calls made, interview, offer, two-weeks notice and first day on the new job -- if we’re lucky ... rejection letter if we’re not.

Most of us haven’t had three different organizations bidding for our services, flying around to interview with national media trailing around and commenting on our every move. What do Jason Garrett, John Harbaugh, Rex Ryan, etc., have that the rest of us don’t? Leverage ...

The NFL is first and foremost an ego business at its core. There is a lot of money and power associated with the game’s key players on and off the field. In the case of the current Ravens search (as well as the ones in Atlanta and Washington and maybe Indianapolis and Seattle) is that the job candidate holds all of the leverage over the potential employers.

Let’s put it in terms we all can relate to from our younger years: The teams looking for coaches all come off as the proverbial 18-year-old virgin on prom night who scored the hot cheerleader to go with him to the dance.

Wine them, dine them, show them the facility, meet the VPs, hint at the power and show them the money. Then, produce the contract and get the coach’s agent in the room. Then there is just one little detail left -- the coach’s signature -- and the balloons and confetti are released from the ceiling.

But, the date with the cheerleader comes with a price. You are always looking over your shoulder at others who are checking her out and trying to keep her from talking to new strangers eager to have the same chance you have.

Regardless of how much you planned it out, she decides to string you and one other eager guy along until she goes back to her old boyfriend, who has whispered promises in her ear the whole time she was shopping around.

So it’s back to the drawing board for the Ravens as they look for a new prom date to come along. The corsage is still in the fridge, the limo is on standby and the photographer is waiting to take the cheesy-years-from-now pictures of the new couple on their way to the big dance.

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Questions, comments, etc.: ChrisPika@gmail.com or please leave a comment below.

Blog & Tackle: Notes from the road

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 20:43:20 GMT

Cleaning out the notebook with various thoughts on the Ravens, coaching searches in general while working a pair of bowl games in New Orleans and spending a lot of time in the car.

Ever since I got the text message from WNST about Brian Billick's firing, I've written about what happens when a team fires a coach, and I am interested in how they have set up their interview process.

Having been through the firings of Jim Haslett in New Orleans and Jim Mora in Atlanta, as well as the firing of GM Randy Mueller in New Orleans as a staffer for those clubs, I've seen the changes close up.

Haslett's firing was a “mercy killing” after missing the playoffs five straight years and the tough conditions that Hurricane Katrina forced the club to go through in San Antonio as they went 3-13. Mora looked like he would survive to 2007, but an ill-advised radio appearance in Seattle made Falcons owner Arthur Blank livid and shortened an already tight rope. Mueller's dismissal was strange in that there was no indication that it was coming. Owner Tom Benson just decided he was better off without him at GM, which shocked the entire building.

There is no good way to tell someone that their services are “no longer needed” in the NFL. Most coaches understand the territory they walk and know that one day, the firing squad will knock on their door.

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Most of the time when clubs decide to change the head coach, clubs have a pretty good bead on who they want to replace the current man in charge. Whether that's a list the owner or GM keeps in their desk or just a list of qualifications for the job, it's important to have a plan. I wonder in the scheme of things if the Ravens really had a plan before the decision to let Billick go was made.

The good news is that they have settled into the search process, unlike the Falcons trying to hire both a coach and GM (and the current GM doing the interviews for his replacement).

The bad news is that some players are voicing their “concerns” about the next coach, whoever it will be. Teams can listen, but not hear those concerns from players, much like I wrote about club's hearing, but not listening to fans in making key decisions. If you hire a coach who will have as long a tenure as Billick (nine years) or more, then the entire roster will turn over during that time with rare exceptions.

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Memo to Ravens players: Even the most outspoken of you will not be in a Ravens' uniform by the time the new coach is into his second five years at the helm. Clubs must build around the type of players who will fit the new coach's system, not necessarily the current guys in the locker room right now.

Head coaches in the NFL today are managers. They have to manage the egos of players while putting the best combinations on the field to win. The days of autocratic coaches like Vince Lombardi are long gone and even the modern-day tough-guy coaches like the Giants' Tom Coughlin have had to make changes to keep a locker room from fracturing. It's worse in the NBA since if a coach's message is lost on two key players, the team can fall apart quickly. With 53 active players, the message can be lost on a couple of players, but a team has to cut out the “cancers” who influence others to their way of thinking. The Ravens might need to conduct some cancer surgery on the roster once the new guy is in the office.

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I had the opportunity to work both the Sugar Bowl and the BCS National Championship Game in New Orleans over the past couple of weeks in a media relations capacity. I had not been back to the Crescent City in nine months after living there for over six years.

There were a couple of lump in the throat moments for me while visiting. One was the sight of thousands of people dressed in team gear from Hawaii, Ohio, Georgia and of course Louisiana walking the streets of the French Quarter and around the Superdome. It looked no different that any of the other Sugar Bowls I've worked over the years before the storm. You realize how far the city has come back from Katrina in the tourist areas and most seemed to enjoy their time in New Orleans. It gives you hope for the future.

But, go away from the Superdome out to New Orleans East and the Lower Ninth Ward -- the areas hit hardest by Katrina and there is a different reality. There are still plenty of trailers next to houses being rebuilt, boarded up apartment complexes, etc. The hardest thing for me was to drive with my wife around the Lower Ninth. As you make your way around the streets, all that is left in a lot of cases is the three steps which went into the shotgun-style houses popular in New Orleans, a twisted metal bannister and a low row of bricks where the foundations of those homes stood.

Also, you can still see the bathtub rings denoting the largest point of the flood around the remaining houses, boats that helped rescue people off of roofs still in the middle of some streets and the markings made by rescue personnel who searched house-to-house for survivors. There are more than a few “one dead in house” markings still visible. The sight of that phrase in spray paint still brings tears.

In talking with fans from the states who visited New Orleans, many had taken the time to venture out and see the destruction for themselves. Being in town to watch their team was important, but there were a lot of people who wanted to gain some perspective on what happened to one of America's great cities.

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The nicest college football fans had to have been those from Hawaii. The 20,000 or so who made the trip from the islands or “the rock” -- as one UH student band member called it -- had a great time. Even though their team was outclassed by a strong Georgia squad, they stayed in the stands until the end of the game and sung as a group after the game was over. They were proud to see their school in the Sugar Bowl, even though it didn't turn out the way they wanted it to.

The Georgia fans may have been the most arrogant. Their student section was chanting “Overrated” at the Hawaii fans in the third quarter as the game was no longer in doubt. The Hawaii fans took in stride, but you could make out a faint chant of “LSU” from the Warrior faithful in reference to the Bulldogs being left out of the BCS title game.

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As for that championship game, the atmosphere in the Superdome was electric. The LSU and Ohio State fans raised the roof for over three hours before the Tigers pulled away to capture the title. It was a great win for LSU and the state of Louisiana. The French Quarter rocked into the wee hours after the game and LSU coach Les Miles went out onto a balcony of a hotel overlooking the Quarter and raised the crystal football to a wild scene in the streets below.

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Enough about Ohio State being the Buffalo Bills of college football. If the Tigers don't block a field goal in a tight game after OSU had grabbed a quick 10-0 lead and LSU came back to tie, the result might have been a lot different. LSU was just quicker on the turf and they made the plays especially when OSU had to throw the football in the second half.

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By the way, there is no need for a college football playoff in my opinion. This system creates just enough controversy to keep the columnists writing and the callers talking on sports radio stations. “Controversy Creates Cash” was the title of a book by wrestling's Eric Bischoff and it could also be the motto of the BCS as well. Until the Rose Bowl buys into a playoff system, the current setup will prevail well into the next decade.

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Questions, comments, etc.: ChrisPika@gmail.com or please leave a comment below.

Blog & Tackle: "Black Monday" in Baltimore ...

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 20:37:43 GMT

The day after the close of the NFL regular season is joking referred to in league offices as “Black Monday” because of the job changes which always seem to come on that day. Surprisingly, it extended to 1 Winning Drive when Brian Billick was shown the door today.

I was part of the front office staff of the Saints when Jim Haslett was let go after the 2005 season and when Jim Mora was released from his contract in Atlanta just a year ago. When a coaching change occurs, there is both a sense of chaos and a sense of dread in the offices much like the movie, “Dead Man Walking.”

People are walking on eggshells in the office. If coaches thought they were safe based on inside info, the shock coming from each assistant coach's office has to be thick. Staffers don't know what to say to a guy who just unexpectedly lost his job and is still trying to process the info. No one knows where the ax will fall next and there is a lot of idle gossip and rumors.

The questions of the day are: Who did Steve Bisciotti listen to in the end? Was it his own internal feel as to what he felt was the best course of action? Did Ozzie Newsome agree to it, or did Bisciotti made the decision on his own going over the measured advice of the highest-ranking football official in the organization? Was it the voices of the players, who are looking out for their personal interests, not the club's? Who or what ultimately tipped the scales in favor of a decision in which Bisciotti said to the Sun: "I can't explain to you how tough a decision it is. It's the toughest decision I've ever had to make.”?

The question of who will be the Ravens' next coach is for tomorrow. Today is for Bisciotti to talk about the whys and hows of today's decision when he speaks to the media and ultimately -- Ravens fans everywhere.

Blog & Tackle: Hectic final week for Ravens ...

Sat, 29 Dec 2007 02:45:07 GMT

The final week of the regular season for teams like the Ravens that will not make the playoffs is very hectic for players, coaches and staff.

There are a lot of distractions in terms of meetings, paperwork, holiday schedules and -- oh, by the way -- a football game on Sunday to end the season.

For the players, many will spend the week exchanging offseason phone numbers and addresses, getting various pieces of memorabilia signed for their personal charities and collections. There is a sense of looseness in the locker room and on the practice field, knowing that the end of a long season is at hand.

The coaches are pulling double duty as they gameplan for the Steelers. The position coaches and coordinators also fill out evaluation forms on the strengths and weaknesses of each player in their group that will be brought to both the head coach and general manager for review the week after the final game.

The staff are also getting ready for the offseason. Pro scouts, who have been watching the teams the Ravens play for two weeks prior to each game are back in the office watching tape of potential pro free agents.

Each NFL team gets tape of each game in the league by Tuesday of each week. The tape is broken down into offense, defense and special teams from two angles -- the 50-yard line camera and the end zone camera that each team uses every game. Just before the snap, the camera operator shoots the scoreboard to show down, distance and time remaining. This is matched up with the official play-by-play sheets distributed in the press box.

During the season, the tapes are used to scout the upcoming opponent's tendencies. Now, the scouts use them to evaluate players and produce reports which are entered into a computer database. The internal database has every player in the league with transactions, scouting reports and scouting grades based usually on the same system that college players are graded on prior to the draft.

One pro scout might also be in charge of self-scouting the Ravens, and breaking the team down like he would for an upcoming opponent -- strengths and weaknesses and how a team's coaches call a game in terms of plays used in particular situations like first-and-10, third-and-5, etc.

The college scouts who have been watching games each Saturday during the season have been back in the office to file player reports on potential draft-eligible players. These same scouts are spread out again at the college bowl games over the next two weeks. They will also head to the college all-star games that dot the schedule later in January.

The video staff, who are in charge of uploading the team's game and practice tapes into a computer system broken down by game situations, are also receiving tapes from colleges through NFL Films and are putting together highlight tapes of top players. They will also make tapes on possible pro free agent targets as given to them by the player personnel department.

The athletic training staff are treating the current injured players, rehabbing those on reserve/injured and tending to the everyday bumps and bruises. They will be setting up the end-of-season physical exams each player will take on the Monday following the final game. These will be matched up with the ones administered before training camp begins to get a picture of a player's overall health. They will also work with the player and team doctors to set up any surgical procedures that will be needed in the offseason.

Once the final game ends, the entire football side of the organization zips into overdrive for the next day. The equipment staff will be in the locker room early on Monday to help players bag up personal belongings to ship to their homes. Other staffers might collect used and unused equipment for donations to local teams or use as potential auction items at some of your favorite charitable events in the offseason. The media also gets a chance to come into the locker room to get their final end-of-season review interviews and find out about offseason plans.

In the coaches offices, the activity level is high as position coaches will meet with each player to go over their season's effort, what they need to work on in the offseason and to thank them for their hard work. In the head coach's office, each player meets with the man in charge for a quick overview of the player's season. Each player will give his offseason contact info to the administrative assistants and get their travel money or plane ticket to return home.

Players, before they leave for the offseason, have their final physicals and check in with the trainers if there are physical issues to be dealt with. They will also receive a schedule of when offseason workouts will commence and when minicamps are scheduled to be held. They also get a list of coaches and key football operations staff phone numbers in case anything comes up while they are away on vacation.

Once the players have been dealt with, the coaching staff finishes their reports before the entire football staff meets over a couple of days during that week to go over the entire roster (active, reserve/injured and practice squad) and begin to formulate how the roster for next season might look. Meetings also take place between the owner and GM, owner and head coach, GM with head coach and head coach with assistants. The GM will also usually meet with the directors of football operations areas (trainers, video, equipment staff) to go over any outstanding issues. The public will get a small glimpse of the philosophy of the upcoming offseason when the owner, GM and head coach meet with the media to give a review of 2007 and what issues in a broad sense they face in 2008.

By the end of the week, assistant coaches will know whether they are staying on the staff or leaving by choice of the club. Some coaches may interview for college and pro head coaching positions. Those who are staying on the staff will get back together for the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, in late January where the top college players will play. The out-of-work coaches also attend the Senior Bowl as it is an unofficial job fair for NFL teams in the week before the game in Ladd Stadium.

After a brief break, the football staff will begin the “heavy lifting” of putting together the 2008 squad as they look at pro players expected to be free agents in March. Player personnel staff and college scouts will also begin to meet on draft-eligible player grades and discussion of which players they may target in the NFL Draft.

The NFL has become a 24-7-365 operation in the salary cap era. What goes on behind the scenes during this time of year in offices and meeting rooms will set the tone of how the 2008 Ravens will look on the field.

Blog & Tackle: Can’t listen to the mob ...

Wed, 26 Dec 2007 21:47:30 GMT

Mobtown was an old 19th century nickname for Baltimore, which at the time had its share of unruly uprisings by citizens before order was restored. With the recent struggles of the 2007 Ravens and the shouts of frustrated fans rising daily, I am reminded of the nickname when I think of how management should react to the rising tide of discontent.

“Hear, but don’t listen,” is one of the first lessons you learn when you work in professional sports in any capacity, especially on the team side. Fan is short for fanatic. Everyone who pays for a ticket to a game has the right to cheer, boo or have a combination of the two when it comes to the home team. Trust me, management hears the boos at home, but the smart ones don’t listen to the content. You also have the right to express your opinions publically, like on WNST or in your comments and forum entries on WNST.net.

Now, I am not defending anyone’s job within the Ravens organization. I am not there inside the building watching the daily ebb and flow of player personnel decisions, injury management or behind-closed-doors meetings. I have, however worked for two NFL organizations -- New Orleans and Atlanta -- which have had their share of troubles and discontented fans.

Here is why I think the Ravens have the right idea based what is currently going on with one of those franchises -- the Falcons.

Atlanta owner Arthur Blank bought the Falcons in 2002 from the Smith family for $545 million dollars after he resigned as Home Depot’s CEO as a billionaire. Blank and his partners built HD into a business behemoth based on customer service -- refining how the stores did business reacting to the average consumer’s needs. The business needed structure and leadership. Blank gave HD that out-front leadership while pleasing the eventual tide of stockholders and supply companies that the company depended on. Blank changed the business model for “big-box” companies worldwide.

When he bought the Falcons, Blank had never owned a professional team before. The Smiths wanted to get out and Blank gave the city the local ownership needed to keep the team in the South’s most-populous city.

Blank’s takeover meant a huge culture change within the organization. Instead of the “mom-and-pop” business model the Smiths (and other family-owned NFL teams used), Blank installed the HD way of corporate business. Fans and sponsors became “stakeholders” in the Falcons and ownership listened to their concerns. He lowered ticket prices and raised hopes.

Blank’s first head coach was a holdover from the Smiths, Dan Reeves. Reeves was a benevolent dictator when it came to football. He called the shots on the football side and the Smiths stayed out of the way. When Blank came in, he wanted to get hands on with the running of the team as he did in building HD. Reeves rebuffed Blank and the owner decided to dump the coach at the end of two seasons in 2003.

In Reeves’ place came Jim Mora Jr. The fiery Mora was a big change from Reeves and Blank got Rich McKay from a Super Bowl-winning franchise in Tampa Bay to oversee the football operations in late 2003 as general manager.

What McKay and Mora also gave Blank was an opportunity to impose the corporate culture into the NFL world. Blank instilled a structure with himself as the face of the operation. Never mind that most successful NFL franchises have owners who hire a person to run the show and get out of the way. It wasn’t in Blank’s makeup to cede that much control.

The Falcons got to the NFC Championship game in the 2004 season with mostly Reeves’ players. Michael Vick had become the face of the franchise on and off the field. Blank could do no wrong with the fans. His “product” gained traction and an unheard-of waiting list for season tickets grew longer. Blank gave Vick a huge $130 million dollar contract in 2004.

But, as we’ve seen over the past year, a lot can go wrong. Vick’s big contract may have come too early in his career and some of his off-the-field issues -- which were easily forgiven by ownership because of a personal relationship -- became so sickeningly public this summer; Mora became less popular with the fan base and Blank, who frequently walks the sidelines in the fourth quarter of games, could hear it for himself and see the empty seats in the Georgia Dome; Blank eventually had to raise ticket prices back to the NFL average to keep fellow owners happy; Mora self-destructed with his comments on the University of Washington job that wasn’t open and was fired with two years left on his contract; a coaching drifter -- Louisville’s Bobby Petrino -- was put in charge to revive the franchise for the long haul that lasted all of 13 games before he bolted back to the college ranks. Blank even kneecapped McKay in rushing to the altar with Bill Parcells, another quick-fix artist.

Blank wanted to make a splash hire and went after both Bill Cowher and Parcells. Both said no, but Parcells kept Blank on a string until he got a better offer from Miami with an owner who will stay well out of the way of football decisions. McKay is out as GM and the franchise must wait for a new GM to decide the new direction of the club.

Blank’s customer service background of listening to his consumers worked in business, but has failed miserably on the NFL level because he listened to the mob. I’m sure Reeves has had a chuckle or two about how it all came crashing down in Atlanta.

How does this relate to Baltimore? Well, the Ravens have had stable ownership from Art Modell and now, Steve Bisciotti. Bisciotti, who built the Allegis Group into one of the biggest staffing firms in the world, was also a rookie when he bought 49 percent of the Ravens in 2000. Unlike Blank, he had a chance over four years to sit back and gain knowledge of how the Ravens worked under Modell and how other successful franchises got that way.

By the time he took over in 2004, armed with what he needed to know, he stayed in the background and let his employees Ozzie Newsome and Brian Billick run the show. From all accounts, Bisciotti listens, has input but leaves the decisions to the men he entrusts with his operation.

It is the same model that brought Pittsburgh a Super Bowl title with Cowher when many wanted him gone as the team struggled. It was also the same model in New England, which had been close to the top, but never there until Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli teamed up and figured out what it took to win as Robert Kraft provided the money and stayed out of the way. Consistency in management and coaching will bring success the right way over the long haul.

There are ups and downs for each NFL franchise. The Ravens have experienced both in the past two years with a division title and a season that ended by late November in reality. Good owners love to win and hate to lose -- just like fans do, but they never make major decisions based on the euphoria of winning or the depression of losing. They stay on an even keel and stick with the franchise's overall long-term plan.

That seems to be the Bisciotti method of doing business and Modell chose his successor wisely. Ravens fans should think about what the opposite approach in Atlanta has brought to a well-intentioned owner and a desperate fan base whose shouts were heard -- and listened to -- at the highest levels.

Blog & Tackle: Ravens and fans in need of emotional rescue ...

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:49:19 GMT

So much went on during the final 15 minutes of the Ravens-Patriots game that both teams will probably need to see the tape at their respective facilities to see the opportunities taken advantage of by the Patriots and the chances ultimately lost by the Ravens in the final moments.

Fans of both teams will rewind and fast forward their video recorders to find the many clues that added up to the 27-24 Patriots victory in one of the most entertaining and emotionally draining games of the 2007 season to date.

Emotion plays such a huge part in every NFL game and Monday night was no exception. From the visible emotion on Ray Lewis' face as the pregame tribute to Sean Taylor played on the video boards to the visible frustration of Bart Scott, who helped cost his team a chance to return the ensuing kickoff when he accounted for 30 of the unconscionable 35 penalty yards the Ravens took after the Pats scored their go-ahead touchdown.

Regardless of the situation, a player has to be smart enough to walk away, not pick up and throw the yellow penalty flag toward the stands as he did. You can't go Milton Bradley without a price in the NFL. That type of tantrum costs you continued personal participation by ejection in baseball, but in football, the team suffers for losing your head.

Emotion, too, came from the 71,382 in attendance at M&T Bank Stadium who never let up their noise level from opening kick to the final play -- as they braved 40 degree temperatures coupled with a a 27-mile per hour wind for just over three hours until the Ravens came up three yards shy of a miracle finish.

As the Ravens can attest to from their 13-3 regular season of a year ago, you get a lot of breaks when you are winning -- the ones you make and the ones that seem to come out of nowhere. The Pats certainly understand that after they came to the line four times on fourth down. A timeout called by defensive coordinator Rex Ryan as New England seemed to have been stopped short on a quarterback keeper, a false start that negated the next play which would have been a one-yard loss, a 12-yard scamper by Tom Brady which was extended by five yards thanks to a illegal contact call on the Ravens and then a defensive holding call that took away an incomplete pass.

It's one thing to win big every week as the Pats did early in the season, it's quite another to get hit in the mouth for 60 minutes by a clearly motivated opponent who had the upper hand for most of the game. The Patriots then had the guts to go down the field and convert every opportunity and win when it seemed they were the most vulnerable. And a Ravens team which had lost five straight in some interesting ways, including a carom off a goal post upright, saw the bounces go the other way once again and made the postgame walk back to the locker room in utter shock and anger.

After scoring on four of their first seven possessions, the Ravens' final four possessions went like this: interception (on third down), punt, punt and end of game. There was a total of one first down in those four chances -- which came on the game's final play. One first down during the next-to-last time the Ravens had the ball would probably been enough to hand the Pats their first loss.

You have to take care of your own business to win consistently in the NFL. The Ravens ultimately did not do that and the Pats, to their credit, found a way to win against everything Baltimore threw at them on the field and from the stands.

With the season now in its' final quarter and Indianapolis coming to town this Sunday, there are plenty of questions to be answered. Do you value the positive events of the first three quarters that gave the Ravens a great chance to stop potential history in the making or does your mind stay with the gut-twisting fourth quarter? Do you think the way the game finished against the Pats will affect the Ravens in their preparations for Indianapolis and their effort against the Colts on Sunday or the other three games on the remaining schedule?

How do you -- as a Ravens fan -- process one of the most exciting and strangest games in club history?

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Comments, questions, etc.: ChrisPika@gmail.com or leave a comment below.

Blog & Tackle: Taking the long way home ...

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 04:00:33 GMT

Few things in the NFL are tougher on players, coaches and staff than a cross-country ride home after a loss on the West Coast. The Ravens are in the middle of such a trip tonight after losing to the Chargers in Qualcomm Stadium.

It's two hours after the game's final play before you've showered, seen the trainers about injuries, spoken to the media, taken the ride on the buses to the airport – then go through security and wait about 45 minutes to leave as the equipment guys load up the many trunks needed for the game. Then, it's a three to four hour flight with a three-hour time change when you finally land to BWI and board the buses for the 30-40 minute ride back to Owings Mills.

When you win, the time flies as players play cards in the back of the plane, staffers and guests of the team are all smiles as the food is brought around and the coaching staff is already breaking down tape and discussing the next week's opponent. The noise can be much like a bar at happy hour.

A loss means most folks are in a surly mood, checking their watches to see how long the flight has to go, catching some sleep if they can and generally keeping to themselves. Silence is the order of the evening -- the only noise coming from the headsets of those watching the now-boring movie on the flight.

The Ravens' flight home will seem even longer after the way the club lost to the Chargers. An uneven San Diego team whose quarterback -- Philip Rivers -- had thrown five interceptions and only one touchdown in the last three games. A team who has one of the top players in the game -- running back LaDainian Tomlinson -- who had not run for over 100 yards in the previous four games. A run-first team that looked to play into the hands of a defense that relished a challenge by one of the game's best backs and the one game I thought the Ravens would win when I looked at the six-game stretch the club faced after the bye week.

As Bob Haynie so astutely predicted, Rivers would be and was the difference in the contest. He had his third-best completion percentage day of the season -- 71.4 percent on 25 of 35 passing -- and threw for three scores in the 32-14 victory.

Four different receivers caught five or more balls from Rivers, led by tight end Antonio Gates who had six catches for 105 yards and two TDs.

San Diego rolled up 332 yards of total offense on an average 5.1 yards per play -- the third straight week the Ravens defense has allowed 325-plus yards.

The current five-game losing streak has all but officially eliminated the Ravens from the AFC playoff race. Now, the goal each week continues to be to win games, improve in all phases and continue the evaluation of the roster for 2008 and beyond.

In short, the weekly goals do not change for Ozzie Newsome, Brian Billick, the coaching staff and the players. Until they tell you to stop playing after your final game on Dec. 30, you continue to do what you do each week -- no exceptions. To do anything radically different would only bring chaos to the NFL's very ordered world. There will be plenty of time for evaluation and changes in the offseason, but everyone on the team -- players and coaches -- owe each other a complete effort each week.

There are five games left in an increasingly long season for the Ravens. The fans will offer their theories about what has gone wrong so far and what changes need to be made. Inside the Owings Mills headquarters, the Ravens' braintrust will meet tomorrow as they do every Monday and discuss the game just past and the one coming up along with injuries, depth chart changes and other bits of information. The media will ask questions to Billick during his weekly press conference and to the players in the open locker room media period.

It will be a Monday just like the 10 before it during the season and one just like the five to follow it. No pronouncements, guarantees or boasts from the locker room. An even-keel tone from the head coach and the coordinators as they talk to the media. Training room time, position meetings and practice go on at the same exact times as they do each day since training camp began – regardless if the team has lost five straight or if it is the opening week of the sesason.

Even after a long flight home after a tough loss, each Monday of a game week has the promise of better things ahead if you continue to conduct business as usual -- just as the calendar demands.

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Questions, comments, etc: ChrisPika@gmail.com or leave a comment below.

Blog & Tackle: The last words on the "The Kick" ...

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 04:06:28 GMT

Since there has been so much written and said about how Cleveland's field goal at the end of regulation was handled by the officiating crew, I wanted to pass along the review made by Mike Pereira, the NFL's Vice President of Officiating during his segment on NFL Network's Total Access on Wednesday.

To watch the video, click here (via NFL.com).

The biggest issue was in the "mechanics" of how the two officials assigned under the goal post uprights handle the adminstration of the kick and the result.

Back in the late '80s, I worked as a high school basketball official in the Baltimore area and I have always observed how officials work on the field individually and as a crew using mechanics which are drilled starting from the first day of classroom and field work when rookie officials learn how to work the game.

During my time in the NFL with the Saints, I had a chance to ask questions to game officials who worked our annual training camp intrasquad scrimmages and got a chance to understand the game and how they call the game from their perspective.

As I explained on Sunday after the game, one of the two officials (Back Judge #61 Keith Ferguson on the left upright) seemed to indicate the field goal was good by nodding his head while the other official (Field Judge #58 Jim Saracino working the right upright) pointed to the ground in front of the crossbar and eventually waved it "no good".

The proper "mechanic" is that once the ball clears the crossbar or goes to either side, BOTH officials glance at end other, silently nod if it's good or shake their heads if it is no good before walking out from the end line together and making the proper signal in unison. Most people watch the ball go all of the way through and the silent signal between the two officials goes unnoticed.

The mistake that started the confusion was that Saracino emphatically pointed to the ground and waved "no good" while Ferguson was nodding at Saracino to indicate a "good" field goal without raising his hands in the traditional signal.

Saracino's "mechanics" were improper and I am sure -- based on Pereira's review -- he was told in strong terms about how it should have been handled on Monday after the league reviewed the procedure.

The proper way was for the two officials to recognize that they disagreed, immediately get together under the goal to discuss it and head toward the referee without any histronics, pointing, etc., so that the correct call can be discussed and made. Remember, the clock stops after a field goal attempt (unless there is a return) and there is no reason to rush the call -- just get it it right.

Saracino got caught up in the moment of the kick deciding the game, and tried to sell his view without consulting with his partner on the other side who clearly (on the tape) had a differing opinion. Ferguson had a better angle to see the ball hit the upright, bound off the extension and come back into the field of play. The ball hit on Saracino's side of the extension and the crossbar could have obscured his view.

In each NFL game, there are three teams on the field -- the home team, the visitors and the officiating crew. The six men in stripes make -- and don't make -- hundreds of potential calls each game. Those men are the best of the best and make split-second decisions in a game that literally flashes in front of them at high speed. They are constantly quizzed on rules and game situations, have each of their calls/non-calls graded by the league's officiating office and watch DVD's -- not only of their past game with comments from the office -- but one filled with key calls from other games in the previous week.

Officials in all sports are looked at more closely after the betting scandal that enveloped a NBA referee over the summer and conspiracy theories certainly abound. The NFL has done its' best to open the curtain on how the game is officiated and Pereira's public review of calls gives fans a different view of how "third team on the field' operates each week.

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Questions, comments, etc.: ChrisPika@gmail.com or leave a comment below.

Blog & Tackle: Shades of '65

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 05:58:36 GMT

With all of the controversy involved with Cleveland's 51-yard game-tying field goal in the final seconds of regulation on Sunday, I wanted to turn back the clock to a game involving another Baltimore team that helped change the rules over 40 years ago and remembered well by Baltimoreans of a certain age.

On Dec. 26, 1965, the Baltimore Colts traveled to play the Green Bay Packers in the Western Conference Playoff at Lambeau Field. The Packers had the ball in the final minutes down 10-7 and kicker Don Chandler lined up for a 27-yard field goal.

The late John Steadman, in his book “From Colts To Ravens” described what happened next with 1:58 to play.

“He (Chandler) kicked the ball with a fluid leg motion but it traveled precariously close to the right upright and was slicing. The flying football was going to make for a close call -- but the wrong one.

“The ball, amazingly, flew inches outside the ten-foot-high post, but official Jim Tunney raised his arms, signaling it was good. Chandler, unknown to Tunney, had turned his head away in despair, much the way a golfer often reacts when he misses what he thought was an easy putt.”

Chandler would kick a 25-yard field goal in overtime after 13-plus minutes of extra time to boot the Colts out of the NFL title game 13-10.

According to Steadman's account, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle was later apprised that the field goal from in-house TV replays looked wide. Steadman later received an anonymous package containing film of the kick from an unnamed source. When viewed on a projector frame-by-frame at a local TV station, most who viewed it were sure the kick was wide.

The furor from the controversy gave impetus to two important changes in the rules at the time. The uprights were made 10 feet higher to 20 feet above the crossbar -- and were given the unofficial nickname of the “Baltimore extensions”. The other change involved the number of officials, which at that time numbered five -- with one under the goal post to decide kick attempts. A sixth official was added and the NFL mandated that two officials -- one under each upright -- be stationed to make kick calls. That officiating mechanic is still in place today.

A couple of postscripts from that game: It was one of the games that Tom Matte wore his famous wristband with the offensive plays from Colts coach Don Shula. Matte was the Colts' QB after injuries to Johnny Unitas and Gary Cuozzo. The other came from Steadman, who said that Chandler admitted in 1996 that he thought he missed the kick and that the officials' call was incorrect.

Green Bay went on to beat ... you guessed it ... Cleveland 23-12 for the NFL title -- the last before the current Super Bowl came into play.

Tunney, one of the best officials the league has ever had (10 championship games, including three Super Bowls) was the lone man under the goalposts on that December day in Green Bay. He maintains to this day that his call was correct. For more on Tunney and the 1965 Western Conference Playoff, click here for an excellent article by the Baltimore Examiner's Jim Henneman from September of this year.

Much like the 1965 controversy, the NFL will take a long look at Sunday's kick and aftermath and probably include such situations under instant replay. It will be another rule change in the league's history made in the wake of a Baltimore football team's misery over a disputed field goal.

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Questions, comments, etc.: ChrisPika@gmail.com or leave a comment below.