This is from Chapter 9, “Injury after insult after implosion – Psychology 2012.” If you enjoy this small snippet you can purchase the book and read another excerpt here. You can also join the Facebook fan page here. The book will be released on May 31st and will be delivered before Father’s Day if purchase before June 5th.

AS THE TEAM WAS ASSEMBLED in the preseason, questions lingered, but Harbaugh felt great that the team had survived an offseason without arrests, without incidents, without any member of a veteran team blaming Evans or Cundiff for the New England loss. He inherited a fractured team in 2008, and by the summer of 2012 he was feeling good about the unity of the players and their maturity.

But the obvious questions for fans, media, and The Castle staff were all the same:

Is this the last chance for Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, and Matt Birk?

Will the offensive line hold up?

Can the Ravens win the big one?

Can Joe Flacco win the big one?

As Bisciotti knew on draft day in 2008, and as Newsome, Harbaugh, and everyone else in the organization had experienced the hard way — it always comes back to the quarterback. Was Joe Flacco going to be the franchise quarterback who would win a Super Bowl for the Baltimore Ravens?

Flacco, who played perhaps the best game of his career and threw what would’ve been the pass that took the Ravens to the Super Bowl on his last drive in January, somehow went into the 2012 season as the man on the hot seat who had not only turned down a $90 million offer for more than six months, but who had gone on WNST.net & AM 1570 in April and said he thought he was the best quarterback in the NFL. As much as Tim Tebow was the darling of ESPN with a seemingly non-stop Jets theme on SportsCenter, Flacco became something of a punch line for a quarterback who could get a team to the playoffs, but somehow was perceived as “not Super Bowl caliber.”

Short of catching his own pass in Foxborough, he literally had done everything he could do to get his team into the Super Bowl and yet the abuse was seemingly endless.

But the game is won on the X’s and O’s and the execution, and Flacco knew this. Cameron and Flacco had talked about more passing, more shotgun formations, and more pressure on defenses, but over the summer of 2012 it became clear the Ravens would become more of a personalized offense for No. 5. If the Ravens were offering Flacco $90 million dollars, they’d need to trust him to earn that money. He loved the tempo of the no-huddle offense and loved that it allowed him to dictate to the defense both personnel and pace.

“What quarterback wouldn’t want to run the no-huddle or fast-paced offense?” Flacco said. “Let’s be honest, it’s more fun to play quarterback when you do that. We like the pace we’re running on offense right now, but it’s a work in progress. We’ve done OK, and we’ve played pretty quick. But, we know we can play better, and we will play faster as we get into it more.”

Harbaugh endorsed this ideological move from being a team that always allowed its defense to cut loose while always seeming to fear the worst from the offense — trying to utilize the clock, run the ball, and be more conservative. “We’ve talked about the no-huddle [offense] since Joe’s [Flacco] rookie season,” Harbaugh said. “He ran it at Delaware and has had success in it when we’ve run it the last few years. He is a key to running it, and he loves it. And, we have the parts for it right now, including the offensive line. We can run the offense very fast, a little fast, slower, and we can huddle. We’re in a good spot right now with how we can run our offense.”

While some of the idiot sports talking heads and media types were constantly flogging Flacco, the people who watch coaches’ film were always impressed with him, using the evidence and residue of four straight playoff appearances and his improving game to shout down the detractors.

“We’ve spent time with Joe [Flacco], and I perceive a change in him,” said NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock, who saw Flacco play at Audubon High in his hometown of Philadelphia. “He’s won since Day One with the Ravens, but he’s more confident now. They’re confident in him, too, and the improved offense reflects all of that. He can make every throw. He can bring his team from behind. The question becomes, ‘Can they win a Super Bowl with Joe?’ And the answer is an emphatic, ‘Yes!’”

Mike Lombardi, who was doing NFL analysis in the summer of 2012 before becoming the general manager of the Cleveland Browns, said “That anyone spent the offseason criticizing [Joe] Flacco strikes me as ludicrous. Flacco didn’t drop the ball in the end zone against the Patriots. In fact, it was Flacco who drove the Ravens to give them two chances to win that game. It was others who didn’t make plays. While he doesn’t play in an offense that shows off his skills statistically, Flacco is a winning QB, and his record [45-21] shows it.”

ESPN’s Ron Jaworski spoke out on Flacco’s arm strength and ability to attack opposing defenses. “Arm strength – that’s Flacco’s No. 1 attribute,” Jaws said. “I get so tired of hearing how arm strength is overrated. It’s far more important than people think. He has the strongest arm in the NFL. And he has an aggressive, confident throwing mentality. The element always overlooked by those who minimize arm strength is the willingness of quarterbacks like Flacco to pull the trigger. Few recognize that because there is no quantifiable means by which to evaluate throws that are not made by quarterbacks with lesser arm strength. It’s all about dimensions. Flacco gives you the ability to attack all areas of the field at any point in the game.”

Flacco took the responsibility as a personal challenge and something he embraced.

“It’s definitely my offense as a quarterback; it’s my job to get out there and lead these guys and direct them and run the traffic, and get it run the way that I want it to be run,” he said in training camp. “Cam may be running the plays, and I may be controlling certain things on the line depending on what the play is, but the fine details of being a good offense are all of the fine details. And it’s my job to get those correct and that we have everyone on the same page. As long as I’m out there in practice getting it to the games and on game day, as long as I’m doing that and expressing to the receivers, expressing to the running back, and to the offensive line how I feel, and what I see back there and as long as we can get on the same page as that together, then that’s when we’re doing something, and that’s when I’m doing my job.

“You talk about being paid that much money, they don’t do that so that they can go out there to do every job, they do that so they can delegate some jobs onto me. And I can go out there and get it done the way it should be. That’s a big part of being a quarterback. To be able to make sure that everything is running smoothly and everybody sees it the way I see it. And that once we get there on Sunday, we can just react and play. Because we’re all up to speed and we all have the same vision of everything. I think that’s what good quarterbacks are able to do, is to take that and then take a certain play and make it great, just because everyone has a good understanding of that.”

By the beginning of training camp it was very clear that the Ravens and Flacco were at an impasse in negotiating a new contract that would replace the final year of his five-year deal from 2008. Newsome called Bisciotti and said that after tireless conversation with Flacco’s agent Joe Linta, there was no way to get a long-term deal and that the Ravens would need to play out the season and consider signing or franchising their star quarterback in 2013.

Bisciotti authorized a final offer – a “bump and roll” contract that gave Flacco a $1 million per year bonus if he won a Super Bowl and $2 million per year for the six years of the deal if he had won two Super Bowls. It would’ve been a raise that stayed on the books for the life of the deal. The average salary number was $16.7 million per year on the Ravens’ base offer, which would’ve made Flacco the fourth-highest paid quarterback behind Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers and Peyton Manning. Flacco was essentially turning down $90 million because he was rejecting the notion that he was the fourth best quarterback in the NFL.

Linta and Flacco once again turned it down the week before training camp opened.

Bisciotti was flustered, wanting to get the deal done and ran into Flacco in the cafeteria in Owings Mills during the first week of training camp and summoned the quarterback to his office upstairs.

“I had never, ever – not for one minute – even spoken to Joe about the contract,” Bisciotti said. “That was for Pat [Moriarty] and Ozzie [Newsome] to do, but I wanted to take one more swing at it and try to understand the situation.”

They spent 45 minutes with the door closed.

“There are two things here that I don’t understand,” Bisciotti said to Flacco. “I don’t understand why you’re walking away from this deal? As maligned as you are in the press and as little faith as so many pundits have in you, we’re offering you a $90 million deal and you can go wave that in their face and say, ‘F**k you guys! See, the Ravens DO believe in me!’ ”

Flacco was nonplussed. “I really don’t care about my critics,” he bluntly told the Ravens owner.

Bisciotti was exasperated. “I don’t understand it. Joe, don’t you think you’d play better with a clear head and having this contract behind you?” he continued. “You won’t have to answer questions from anybody, and you can just focus on playing and winning the Super Bowl.”

Flacco said it again. “Steve, I appreciate the offer, but I really don’t care about the media, critics, any of it. I’ve gotta trust my agent, and he doesn’t want any incentives in contracts. And I’ve gotta leave it to him.”

Bisciotti reasoned that until they won a Super Bowl together neither one would get that ultimate respect they desired. “I’m offering you a better deal than the one you’re asking me for if you’re planning on winning the Super Bowl,” he said.

Flacco wasn’t upset or emotional, as is his custom. He simply smiled and said he was going to play out the year. Bisciotti said, “Well, I tried,” as he shook Flacco’s hand. “Then go out and put a few rings on my desk and get what you think you deserve.”

“I figured if he’s fine with it then I should be fine with it,” Bisciotti said. “I wanted it behind both of us. I guess I didn’t really understand how different a guy he was. I told him, ‘You are a different cat, man!’ ”

Flacco remembers the conversation vividly. “Yeah, he couldn’t get over it,” Flacco said. “He said, ‘Do you know what you’re doing? This is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard!’ I told him I knew what I was doing and my price wasn’t getting cheaper. I saw his point of view but I also thought that I was right. I’m a little bit of a hard head.”

Flacco believed the market always get set by the next elite quarterback that signs and the price always goes up if you perform. “It wasn’t a bad offer but I felt like I could do better if I waited,” he said. Like his adversary in this $100 million negotiation, he had gone to the Bisciotti school of downside management.

“My agent said to me, ‘Think about the worse possible situation and if you’re OK with that then hold your position,” Flacco said. The downside here would’ve been a catastrophic injury or a bad 2012 season on the field. “If I got hurt, I got hurt,” he said. “That’s the nature of the game. I was willing to look in the mirror and live with that.”

Flacco said he turned the tables on Bisciotti: “I told him, ‘You should give me four or five million more now because if I win the Super Bowl’ – and I did say ‘if’ – ‘then it’s gonna cost you $20 million.’ ”

Flacco figured he was still only making his base of $6.5 million in 2012 no matter what. The Ravens weren’t ripping up his deal. It was an extension. And there’s always a new “going rate” for top quarterbacks.

“I was actually glad that he called me up to talk about it because it was a cool conversation to have,” Flacco said. “Even though we weren’t agreeing it was a great conversation. It’s one of those talks that grows a relationship, I think.

“Hey, I tried to throw him a bone and save him some money.”

To purchase Purple Reign 2: Faith, Family & Football – A Baltimore Love Story, click here.

The post Purple Reign 2: Flacco & Bisciotti met, talked Super Bowls & millions last August appeared first on We Never Stop Talking Baltimore Sports.

It’s a topic that’s been discussed ad nauseum for the better part of the last couple of weeks, and now that it’s been resolved (or at least decided) I’m going to take one last lick at this dead horse before we put it to bed…until the beginning of September that is, when we’re sure to dig it back up and beat it to death all over again.

For now, it’s time for Ravens fans to let go of the “woe is us” and realize that this couldn’t have worked out any better for the team.

In the Harbaugh era, and to some degree before it, there are two giant hammers that the Ravens have wielded consistently. The Ravens have been near impossible to beat at home, and are undefeated when they’ve had extra rest or opportunity to prepare for an opponent. There’s no need to swing both of those hammers at the same time, and all Schedule-Gate has done is prevented the Ravens from having to.

I get that fans want to celebrate the team’s Super Bowl win with the whole world watching; but what’s best for the team? It’s kind of laughable that those who consider themselves fans of the Ravens suddenly seem to be more interested in having center stage for themselves for one night in September, than they are in giving the Ravens their best opportunity at winning enough games to possibly make another Super Bowl run.

The Harbaugh era Ravens are 5-0 in opening games and 14-0 when having 10 or more days to prepare for an opponent (including openers). It’s probably also worth mentioning that 4 of those 5 opening game wins have been at home (so much for the “NFL is out to get us” angle). Now that it’s decided that the Ravens will open on the road, there are only 3 games that should be up for consideration for the NFL’s showcase. Not coincidentally, those games happen to be the Ravens 3 toughest looking road games as well (Pittsburgh, Cincinnati or Denver). Since there’s no avoiding having to play those games anyway, doing it in the first week of the season is ideal.

It’s better to get Peyton Manning and Wes Welker in the first game of the year, when they’re still trying to figure one another out, and probably more ideal to get in and out of Denver before the frost settles in. While it by no means insures the Ravens will win; it seems to give them their best chance to win. In fact, if we can get over our hurt feelings for long enough to think about the good of the team, ideally the Ravens would open in Denver, and then on the back of 10 days rest head to either Pittsburgh or Cincinnati, and then return to Baltimore for the home opener.

It’s also worth mentioning that opening on Thursday night has not always precluded teams from having to play another Thursday game in the same season. Given that the Ravens are defending Super Bowl champions, it would seem likely that they’ll get their maximum 5 prime time games, and that there’s a real possibility that they’ll have another Thursday game. Opening on Thursday, on the road would not only prevent the Ravens from having to be ready for Thursday night on 3 days rest, but would also virtually insure that if they did get a 2^nd Thursday game it would be in Baltimore, with another (likely tough) opponent having to prepare and travel on short rest.

So if we’re keeping score at home, the NFL played the role of bully on behalf of NBC, and tried to impose themselves on the Orioles. The Orioles held their ground and as a result are stuck with a September 5^th game that is sure to be a dog attendance-wise because it’s going up against the Ravens opener. The Ravens by opening on the road against a tough opponent will have a likely better chance to win a tough road game than they would otherwise, and may still get a Thursday home game with significant, inherent advantages built in. Someone remind me again why everyone is so mad at the Orioles over this. Oh yeah…it’s because we miss out on the chance to scream “look at us” to the football world while pounding our chests, right?

Sign me up, 10 times out of 10, for the schedule formula that gives the Ravens the best shot at being a playoff team, or a division winner, or a home playoff game host, or a bye week possessor. Frankly I’m shocked that Ravens fans are having such trouble grasping this one. I thought better of most of you.

Lastly, if the locker room somehow sees this as a slight, as fans clearly have, then it facilitates the mentality that has seemed to serve them so well lately. It’s Baltimore against the world as usual. If that works, so be it. But the Ravens are the winners in this mess; it’s just that some folks’ sensitivity won’t allow them to see it.

The post Schedule-Gate 2013: Ravens Win…Fans Whine appeared first on We Never Stop Talking Baltimore Sports.

I have made it my life’s work via owning WNST.net to study these sports owners and how these local teams operate, function, thrive and compete.

And oft-times, checking their sobriety level and true intentions, goals and desires for their ownership becomes a guiding force for their popularity, success and profit. Somewhere deep inside of every Bob Irsay, Abe Pollin or Edward Bennett Williams, there’s a hunger for something intangible that their millions of dollars of U.S. currency can’t really buy – not that feeding their egos and wallets simultaneously would be turned down by any of these men.

But they want to be heroes. They want to be winners in a way that no court case or big sale or transaction can be felt in the traditional business world. They’re sportsmen. They want to save the city. They want to have that “one moment in time” feeling of watching the confetti drop while they toast a championship and host a ticker tape parade. Billy Joel once sang about them in a song called “Big Shot.”

No one associated with big-league sports ever lost money owning a team in Baltimore, with or without championships or competitive teams. The Colts, Orioles, Ravens all sold for more than their original purchase price. So, making money comes with the territory, even if you wreck the franchise for the fanbase, as has been witnessed here with Peter Angelos since 1993.

But I’ll also say this much: I also personally know some very good, civic-minded people who lost hundreds of thousands – if not MILLIONS of dollars – trying to run minor-leagues sports franchises in Baltimore since 1968, when I entered the planet and the local sports scene. The losses of Skipjacks, Clippers, Bandits, Lightning, Spirit, Claws, Blades, et. al. means there were some nice guys like Bill Stealey, Tom Ebright or Mike Caggiano losing a helluva lotta money on a hobby and sports dream gone wrong.

These are businesses. And as a business owner who has taken on immense risk buying and operating WNST over the years, I respect and honor the amount of work it takes to make a profit and keep customers and the community at-large happy.

I respect that Peter Angelos once bought the Baltimore Orioles to win championships and be the local hero owner. I also have watched him humiliate and degrade a whole generation of passionate Orioles fans and piss on the brand for better part of two decades with equal parts wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony.

This week, Steve Bisciotti, the owner of the Baltimore Ravens maneuvered quite heavy-handedly behind the scenes to oust offensive coordinator Cam Cameron, while head coach John Harbaugh took the podium to make an announcement that it was pretty clear he was uncomfortable with in just about every way.

As a fan, all I’ve ever asked for is accountability and knowing what the intentions of the owner are so I can tell Baltimore sports fans what’s really happening.

It really speaks volumes when you watch the way the two franchises in Baltimore weave through a sports calendar with incredibly expensive, risky and “no turning back” decisions.

And let’s make this really clear: Steve Bisciotti and Peter Angelos run their franchises and make the last call on virtually every decision. They’ve earned that right because they took the

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On Monday the Ravens said good-bye to offensive coordinator Cam Cameron. And while he was seemingly in the minds of most fans the answer to all that ailed the team, he was also by most accounts a good man.

A good man lost his job, and for many, the fans of the team, the mob that had assembled and called routinely for his head for three years running, that can be seen as cause for celebration. We don’t celebrate lightly. A good man lost his job and that’s never an instance in which we should revel. This however is sports, and such celebrations are not only par for the course, but in knowing that Cameron will bounce back, will land on his feet, will find an opportunity elsewhere before very long, we can safely (and in good conscience) celebrate the fact hat he’ll no longer be a pox on our house.

Inside the Castle however, the residents have no such luxury. While the departure of Cameron is being sold as for the greater good, and while the move was made in hopes that in order to improve, in order to fix what ailed the Ravens there would have to be a casualty…at least one, Cameron takes with him the gigantic target that he’s carried for at least the last 3 seasons.

So now, the angry faction of Ravens fans who feel that winning is their birthright will have to find somewhere else to direct their anger and frustration. It’s all but certain that while Cameron was a part (probably a big part) of the “struggles” of a 9-4 team on their way to a 5^th straight trip to the playoffs, it’s at least equally certain that he wasn’t the only problem. He however has been cast aside in the name of progress and improvement, and if that progress and improvement isn’t forthcoming…and soon…the angry (by nature) fans will find another target for their anger.

Those who are left behind to pick up the pieces had better do so quickly, or they might be the next to carry the target. And there’s no shortage of candidates who should be feeling the pressure to insure that it’s not them.

Joe Flacco

If Cameron was the most criticized member of this Ravens organization, the quarterback, Joe Flacco isn’t far behind. Flacco, once touted as the offensive savior of this team, has failed to progress at the pace that many had hoped or expected. Now he stands to cash a much more substantial check from the team, and it appears that the move made to fire Cameron was, as much as anything else, an attempt to quickly assess what they have in their franchise QB before they decide to pay him franchise money.

Clearly the Ravens are in no position to part company with Flacco, as much as some fans might suggest it, but big decisions will have to be made nonetheless. And with each passing game, regardless of his performance, Flacco’s leverage over the team seems to increase.

While most, even those in the quarterback’s own camp would probably concede that he’s not worth $16+ million per season, that’s essentially what he’ll cost if a happy medium can’t be found. And from the QB’s perspective, having remained upright and healthy for the first 4, going on 5 years of his career, gambling on himself to remain upright and healthy for another 16 games under the franchise tag doesn’t seem like much of a stretch. If it indeed comes to that, and Flacco is left to wear the franchise tag in 2013 at a price tag of over $16 million, a second season under the tag would net him closer to $20 million. And a 3^rd season after that under the tag becomes almost so preclusive from a team standpoint that allowing Flacco into free agency would likely be the team’s “only” choice. So at the very least Flacco is all but guaranteed 2 years at $37 million or so, with free agency to follow after 2014.

The post Say Good-Bye to the Scapegoat appeared first on We Never Stop Talking Baltimore Sports.

I’ve been tolerant and even accepting of losses in the past for a variety of different reasons. There was even a game back in 1998 (the finale) against the Detroit Lions that I wanted the Ravens to lose for the purpose of improving their draft position. They didn’t oblige me that day as they sent the great Barry Sanders off into an unexpected retirement with a loss for his troubles; they also drafted Chris McAlister with their non-cherry picked draft spot and he went on to become one of my personal favorite Ravens of all time.

Since that last day of 1998 however I’ve never cheered for a loss by the Ravens (I still didn’t by the way) and have never seen much to be positive about in their wake…until week 14 of 2012 that is.

I’m guessing that I’m mostly alone in my post-lost positivity, but I shouldn’t be. Every fan that found themselves lamenting any Ravens win this season as being less than confidence inspiring or far from Super Bowl caliber should be celebrating this loss right along with me. Clearly this is a Ravens team that has had issues all season long. Clearly this is a Ravens team that will need to get better in order to achieve the goals that they’ve laid out for themselves and the goals that we as fans have for them. And clearly this is a Ravens team that somehow kept winning and thereby dodging those issues. As long as that continued there was no reason to hope for anything different. Only now, in the face of a couple of embarrassing and gut wrenching defeats can this team get truly introspective. Only now, can the Ravens begin to acknowledge, address and ultimately fix the problems that many have been seeing and talking about for weeks, or months or years.

If it ain’t broke, as the old saying goes, you don’t fix it. So while there were reasons for fans to be concerned about what we perceived to be Ravens’ issues all season long, they continued to win. There was little reason for the team to try and fix what didn’t appear to be broken. Now, let there be no doubt that the Ravens are broken, in a variety of places, and now there is still time to fix it.

The problems, as diagnosed by fans could fill 10 more pages, and there’s certainly plenty of blame to go around. From the quarterback to the offensive and defensive lines to the coordinators to the head coach, even General Manager Ozzie Newsome has to, at this point, take a look in the mirror and own his part in the “downfall” of the Ravens as we knew them.

A lot of these problems simply can’t be addressed in enough time to “save this season” or at least to make an immediate difference; but the Ravens have been successful enough without addressing anything to suggest that a few subtle tweaks can put them back in a winning way, and from week to week in the NFL anything is possible. They’re still a virtual lock to be in the playoffs and once there…who knows?

The post Ravens Loss Worth Celebrating appeared first on We Never Stop Talking Baltimore Sports.

At this point it might be fair to ask, if fans and even the owner perceive Cameron as a liability, then why hasn’t John Harbaugh seen it too? Is Harbaugh simply loyal to a fault and to the detriment of the team or might there be more to the situation than meets the eye?

When the Ravens brought Cameron in to run their offense I was opposed to the move. I was opposed on the grounds that in just one year he had overseen a near mutiny (to use a familiar term) taking place on his Dolphins team but that wasn’t even my biggest beef. The bigger issue that I had with Cameron related to his time in San Diego. It was easy to see first that both Drew Brees and Philip Rivers seemed to flourish when removed from Cameron’s system. In Brees’ case, Cameron and the San Diego staff failed not only to utilize his talents to their fullest potential, but they failed to even give him much of a shot. After one year at the helm of the Chargers offense, Brees was benched in favor of Doug Flutie and then saw the team draft his replacement in Rivers shortly thereafter. And while all of the aforementioned was troubling, that still wasn’t my biggest concern with Cam Cameron running the offense.

My issue, or expectation of the Cameron offense was based on something much simpler. During his time at the helm of the Chargers, it seemed that Cameron’s offense did everything over the middle of the field. Despite San Diego’s tendency to stock their receiving corps with big and physical pass catchers, there was absolutely no effort made to utilize them outside of the hash marks. With “up the middle” talent like Antonio Gates and LaDanian Tomlinson, it’s easy to understand why this was the philosophy but still worth mentioning that essentially ignoring the outsides of the field made things easier for opposing defenses.

Now fast-forward to and through Cameron’s first 4+ seasons in Baltimore and the exact opposite is true. It seems that here, Cameron’s offense only operates outside of the numbers and does nothing over the middle. When assessing the personnel at hand, again it’s easy to understand why. The Ravens lack the middle of the field “power forwards” that so many teams have begun to put to use in creating mismatches over the middle. The Ravens seem to lack confidence in their pass catchers and therefore look at balls off the fingertips outside as likely to go out of bounds while balls off the fingertips over the middle are more likely to find their way into the arms of waiting safeties.

Having the benefit of a strong armed quarterback in Joe Flacco who’s easily able to flick balls outside of the numbers and more than willing to check down to Ray Rice when those options aren’t there, it seems that Cameron’s offense is once again allowing opposing defenses the luxury of not having to account for the whole field. He’s gone from a guy who ran nothing outside of the hash marks to a guy who now runs everything outside the hash marks.

On one hand he could be applauded for adapting his game plans to suit his personnel, but on the other hand he’s a guy who has consistently allowed defenses the luxury of not exactly knowing what’s coming, but at least of being able to rule out a number of things that aren’t coming. For these reasons, it’s my opinion that Cameron should be under fire. But…

The post Canning Cameron is Probably Not the Answer appeared first on We Never Stop Talking Baltimore Sports.

Thousands of people took time earlier today to pay their respects to Art Modell. The Modell family, fully supported by the Baltimore Ravens family, set up a memorial at M&T Bank Stadium. Mr. Modell’s casket was laid out under a tent, fittingly, in the middle of the football field.

As I left, after a brief moment and sad goodbye to a truly classy guy, the lines were long and purple. Just the way Mr. Modell would’ve wanted it.

Days like today, times like these, bring about a need for moments of solitude and reflection. While driving away from M&T Bank Stadium, I was overcome with a heightened sense of awareness. I’m not sure why. The same streets I’ve traveled a thousand times over, just looked different. With my windows down, no radio, no real street noise invading my space, Baltimore was bustling, yet peaceful. Each stop light had me noticing something new in the city surroundings. Baltimore changes a lot and I guess I never really notice. Even my quick run down I83, a stretch I’ve taken countless times, alerted me to things I’ve never noticed before. I felt rested, really awake, calm and energized by the clarity. Honestly, I’m not sure what was happening. It was weird. I wish it happened more often.

I grabbed a quick lunch and began thinking about “life”, my life. I’m 44, and no longer qualify as “young” while not yet staring straight down the barrel of “old”. I’m truly in the “middle” – I hope.

I wont bore you with the details of personal thoughts as they pertain to me and the reflecting I was doing. I will share this – time is the only commodity worth cultivating. With enough of it, if spent wisely, everything else will fall into place. Wasting time is a sin.

Art Modell was 43 when I was born. He was in the “middle”. Art, purchased the Cleveland Browns in 1961 for $4 million, investing only $250,000 of his own money. He borrowed $2.7 million and partners kicked in the rest. He bought a storied NFL franchise with only $250k of his own cash, how cool is that? Multiple high-fives and chest bumps are in order. Very slick. Truly awesome. He was a hands on, active owner, who relished his role in the management of the team. In 1963 Art fired legendary coach Paul Brown. The Browns – Paul Brown. The legend – Paul Brown. Art Modell fired him – amazing! In 1969 Art married Pat, the love of his life and they were inseparable until her passing in 2011. He met and then married  “the one”, took vows of “until death do us part” and honored those vows. He adopted her two sons and furnished them wonderful lives. Art and Patricia Modell were together for 42 years – inspiring!

Art was entrenched in the era of NFL football when true titans came out to play and pioneer. Art, meshed his marketing, public relations, advertising and media savvy into the world of the NFL and helped lead the league to unimaginable and unprecedented prosperity. Art Modell was bold, tough and fearless yet knew how to kill you with kindness – the NFL needed guys like him in the ranks.

Thanksgiving Day football in “Prime Time” – Art Modell. Monday Night Football -  Art Modell. Lucrative TV contracts – Art Modell. NFL football back in Baltimore – Art Modell. Another Super Bowl trophy resting

The post Catch The Buzz: Thinking About Mr. Modell appeared first on We Never Stop Talking Baltimore Sports.

How is it that fans who chose to make use of a ticket for which they paid full freight, fans who braved downtown traffic and paid for parking and overpriced beer and concessions, fans who had already been bilked for every dollar that the football team could have conceivably squeezed from them, were then made to pretend that out of town preseason football games were more important than the game that the Orioles were playing in Detroit? Throughout the game the scoreboard rotated through every other meaningless out of town non-football football contest, even one that had been played the previous day, but not once did the good folks in charge of the Ravens see fit to show us the score of the Orioles game.

Is this what it feels like to be a child of parents who hate each other?

The Ravens and Orioles may not have time for one another, but it’s time that they both learned that we have plenty of time, interest and passion for both. The Ravens are our team, in our city, and on Friday fans already forced to endure regular season prices for a less than compelling contest were also forced to drain whatever battery life they had in their phones in an effort to keep up with the action of our other team’s game, in a stadium by the way, that gets slightly worse cell phone reception than a concrete encased elevator shaft.

I don’t care if the Ravens and Orioles don’t like one another, I don’t care if they compete to the death with one another in an effort to squeeze every conceivable dollar this town might have earmarked for sports entertainment. I do however care when one or the other of those franchises fails to try to comprehend the mindset of their fans, fans of both teams. Most Orioles fans are Ravens fans, and most Ravens fans are Orioles fans. Even if the teams don’t like each other, they need to recognize that we like (or love) them both. Trying to pretend otherwise, or to convince us that shouldn’t be the case is beyond senseless; it’s insulting.

Maybe as the fair haired boys of the Baltimore sports scene the Ravens have forgotten about, or de-prioritized the need to understand their fans and to make their experiences with the team positive. They play in a cushy and near rent free stadium at the expense of the tax payers of this state, yet didn’t seem to think twice about closing the doors to training camp in the name of cost cutting and ease. Who cares that fans unable to pay the extortion rate prices for PSLs and season tickets looked to training camp as their only way to connect with their team first hand? If the NFL has proven anything to its fans over the last 2 off-seasons, it’s proven that it’s beholden to the bottom line and little else. Still, it felt like the Ravens were different. It felt like the Ravens and Steve Bisciotti were in tune with the pulse of their fans and made every effort to prove it. Maybe that’s no longer the case.

Were the Ravens afraid that if they showed us a baseball score we’d flock en masse to the exits, off to the nearest sports bar or home to catch what apparently was an exciting albeit frustrating episode of meaningful Orioles baseball? Would it have mattered if we did? As I mentioned, those who showed up had already been squeezed. Even those who didn’t were squeezed for the ticket price, but those who did also paid for parking and those wonderful $9 beers to boot.

Maybe it’s the $9 beers (and the boots) that really have me upset. That’s because in the 3^rd quarter I had one kicked over, out of the cup holder affixed to my seat for the purpose of keeping it upright, by a SAFE Management employee. Not only did I lose that $9 beer; but was also treated extremely rudely by the man who kicked it over. He didn’t pick up the spilled can, didn’t offer to replace it, he didn’t even offer an apology. He simply kept on walking.

The post Fake Friday Football A Fan Friendliness Failure appeared first on We Never Stop Talking Baltimore Sports.

While the players, coaches and front office prepare for the upcoming season, those that talk football will take up valuable space and air time with what they believe the destiny for this year’s team will be.  So without further ado I give you my prediction for the 2012 Baltimore Ravens.

A year after finishing 12-4 in the regular season and undefeated in the AFC North the Ravens have their work cut out for them this season.  While the 2012 season schedule only includes five postseason teams from last year, in the parody landscape of NFL teams, no matchup is a given (remember Jacksonville and Seattle).  In the first month the Ravens will face an improved and more experienced Bengals team, the Eagles who finished last season on a four game winning streak just missing the postseason, a showdown with Tom Brady and the Patriots at M & T Bank and finishing the month against Brandon Weeden and the Cleveland Browns.  The Bengals, Patriots and Browns are all primetime games with the Monday night opener against Cincinnati.

Once October begins the Ravens will play the next six of eight games on the road beginning with a trip to Arrowhead Stadium.  For those that would rather have Tono Romo over Flacco you’ll get your chance to argue when the Cowboys come to Charm City.  Then road trips to Houston and Cleveland before stopping back home to Baltimore to face the Raiders.  Back on the road to the despised city of Pittsburgh for the first rivalry matchup of the year on Sunday Night Football then fly to San Diego and return home to play the Steelers to end the month of November.

The month of December will matchup the Ravens for the first time against RGIII and the team from D.C.  Then the Ravens nemesis Peyton Manning comes to Baltimore with his new Broncos team while his brother Eli comes to town the following week when the defending Super Bowl champion Giants visit and the season ends in Cincinnati.  

My prediction for this year 11-5

The Ravens may have escaped without a loss in their division last season for the first time in franchise history this year they won’t be as lucky.  Cincinnati appears ready to join Baltimore and Pittsburgh in the division conversation.  Second year quarterback Andy Dalton will try to avoid the sophomore slump and while their additions of running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis and improvements in their secondary will help the Bengals cause.  The loss of wide receivers Jerome Simpson and Andre Caldwell may be a detriment to Dalton and the offense.  Those two receivers accounted for over 1,000 yards of offense and seven touchdowns in Dalton’s rookie season.  If the Bengals are to return to the playoffs the final game in Cincinnati could end up in the wrong column for the Ravens.

The other potential divsion loss will be to the Steelers in Pittsburgh.  In the Harbaugh era the point difference in this game has been three.  With the two rivals splitting the four regular season matchups in the steel city I’m expecting this year for a split in the two games with the home team winning one each.  While the Steelers defense has gotten long in the tooth the offense is what will again carry Pittsburgh.  Improvements to their offensive line and a tandem passing attack with Wallace and Sanders will again provide Ravens fans suspense filled, nail biting moments when these two bitter rivals clash.

The other losses I have on their schedule are the Chargers, Broncos and Giants.  All three teams have quarterbacks that have and are capable of putting up big numbers on the Ravens defense forcing the offense to answer quickly and often.  While this year may be the first for Peyton and the Broncos, until the Ravens can prove they can beat him consistently the edge has to go to old number 18.

The month of December doesn’t appear to hold many gifts for the Ravens so they will have to shop for wins early in the season.  If Joe Flacco and the offense can continue to grow and the offensive line provide him the protection he requires I believe the Ravens will once again take the AFC North crown and return to the playoffs.

WNST Ravens beat reporter Luke Jones joins me in a pre training camp podcast.  Take a listen here.

Is Flacco a top 10 quarteback?  Watch my debate during the WNSTBSMS semi finals here.

Follow Adam McCallister on Twitter: @McCallister_A

The post 2012 Ravens season prediction appeared first on We Never Stop Talking Baltimore Sports.

We’ve decided to join the ranks of the ranker’s and do our own version of a “Top’s” list. The Baltimore Ravens have played sixteen seasons and given us more than our fair share of uber-talented football players. To start, we’ve built a master listing of the best players in Ravens history by position. Our master list has been paired down to 46 players. Now it’s time to whittle down the list of 46 to an ALL TIME TOP 25 BALTIMORE RAVENS – “Catch The Buzz” style.

Check out our master list and let us know if we’ve missed anyone deserving. Break it all down and decide your own Top 25. Feel free to chime in on the show and let us know your thoughts, 410-481-1570. Weekdays, 10a – Noon, on WNST1570 and WNST.net.

Check back soon on our final picks for TOP 25!

All Time Baltimore Ravens: Top 25

…the master list…

QB’s

Joe Flacco

Vinny Testaverde

Trent Dilfer

Steve McNair

RB’s

Jamal Lewis

Ray Rice

Willis McGahee

Priest Holmes

FB’s

Sam Gash

TE’s

Todd Heap

Shannon Sharpe

OL

Jon Ogden

Edwin Mulitalo

Mike Flynn

Orlando Brown

Wally Williams

Ben Grubbs

Marshal Yanda

Tony Jones

WR’s

Derrick Mason

Michael Jackson

Anquan Boldin

Quadry Ismail

KR/PR

Jermaine Lewis

K/P

Matt Stover

Sam Koch

SP/T Specialist

Benny Thompson

LB’s

Ray Lewis

Peter Boulware

Bart Scott

Jarret Johnson

Terrell Suggs

Adalius Thomas

Jamie Sharper

DL

Haloti Ngata

Michael McCrary

Rob Burnett

Tony Siragusa

Sam Adams

Kelly Gregg

DB’s

Ed Reed

Samari Rolle

Chris McAlister

Duane Starks

Rod Woodson

Eric Turner

Stevon Moore

Contributors

Art Modell

Steve Bisciotti

Brian Billick

John Harbaugh

Eric DeCosta

Phil Savage

The post The Boneyard: “Catch The Buzz” Top 25 Ravens of All Time appeared first on We Never Stop Talking Baltimore Sports.