OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Needing to add quarterback depth for the offseason as well as training camp, the Ravens officialy signed free-agent quarterback Caleb Hanie to a one-year deal on Tuesday.

The former Chicago Bears backup spent the 2012 season as the No. 3 signal caller for the Denver Broncos and started four games for the Bears in 2011 after starter Jay Cutler was injured. The 27-year-old has played in 10 games in his career, completing 59 of 116 passes for three touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

“We felt like it would be important to bring a quarterback in at this point in time in order to learn the offense from the ground up,” coach John Harbaugh said. “He’s a talented guy. He’s played in games, maybe hasn’t been in the ideal situation for him yet, but based on the evaluation of our pro department with [director of pro personnel] Vince Newsome and our coaches, they feel like he fit us pretty well.”

Much in the same way that the Ravens added former Indianapolis quarterback Curtis Painter last offseason, Hanie will provide another veteran arm during preseason workouts and will compete with backup Tyrod Taylor. However, Baltimore is pleased with the development of Taylor, so this move shouldn’t be perceived as a sign that the Virginia Tech product is on his way out after being drafted in the sixth round of the 2011 draft.

Painter was released at the end of the preseason last summer as the Ravens went with only two quarterbacks for the third straight year, but the Ravens are leaving the door open for a third-string quarterback if the need arises.

“I’m looking forward to seeing him,” Harbaugh said. “I don’t know him that well personally, but I can’t wait to get to know him as a player. And if he fits the bill, he could be our third quarterback.”

What was feared all week became official on Friday afternoon as the Baltimore Ravens announced they will not host the NFL’s season opening game on Thursday, Sept. 5.

Unable to work out a compromise with the Orioles, who are scheduled to play the Chicago White Sox at Camden Yards on the same night, the Ravens will play on the road against an opponent yet to be determined. Baltimore will remain involved in NBC’s nationally-televised opening game to begin the season, but the news will bring major disappointment to Ravens fans hoping to see the Orioles move the start time of their game.

Ravens senior vice president of public and community relations Kevin Byrne told AM 1570 WNST that the Orioles were willing to change the start time of their game on Sept. 5, but the teams could not move past the logistical concerns created by two games being played on the same day. Byrne also said it was unfair from a competitive standpoint to expect the Orioles to play a doubleheader at some point during that weekend.

Moving the time of the Orioles’ scheduled 7:05 p.m. game on that night required approval from Major League Baseball, the players union, and the White Sox.

“After thorough discussions among the Orioles, the NFL and the Ravens, it became clear that holding both an Orioles’ game and the Ravens’ regular season opener on the same day would create logistical situations that would cause serious issues for the city of Baltimore, and fans for both teams,” Ravens president Dick Cass said in a statement. “The Ravens greatly appreciate the willingness of the Orioles to adjust the start of their game in an effort to make this sports spectacular happen. But, in the end, anticipated problems with parking, rush-hour traffic, plus crowd and car congestion around Oriole Park and M&T Bank Stadium, will keep the doubleheader from taking place.”

With the Ravens now opening their 2013 season on the road, the strongest possibilities of an opponent that evening are the Denver Broncos or the Pittsburgh Steelers. The news comes as an even bigger disappointment when remembering the NFL did not award the Ravens with the season-opening Monday night game in the 2001 season in what was then a privilege bestowed upon the previous season’s Super Bowl champion.

The last defending Super Bowl champion to open up the following season on the road was Tampa Bay in 2003.

The NFL is currently exploring fan activities in Baltimore centered around the season-opening game, including a pre-game concert.

“While we are disappointed for the fans in Baltimore, we appreciate the efforts of the Ravens, Orioles and Major League Baseball and understand the logistical problems in trying to schedule the teams on the same day,” NFL senior vice president of communications Greg Aiello said in a released statement. “The Ravens will open the season on the road on Thursday night, September 5, in our annual NFL Kickoff Game on NBC. We are exploring potential fan activities in Baltimore around the Kickoff Game, including a pre-game concert.”

The Orioles released the following team statement regarding the sides’ inability to work out a compromise:

“The Orioles have great respect for the Super Bowl Champion Ravens and thank Major League Baseball, the MLB Players Association, and the White Sox for doing everything possible to work with us to explore all options to reschedule the September 5 game. We also appreciate the work of the NFL and the Ravens over the past several weeks as we attempted to accommodate the Ravens’ interest in a game the same evening. Given the limited options available to reschedule the game at that late date in the season, the parties jointly determined that even an earlier start time would still create such enormous logistical difficulties that it would greatly diminish the fan experience for both events which all parties realized would not be in the interest of their fans or the City.”

Circumstances for all involved parties led to the inability to work out an agreement, but you can even attribute the Ravens opening on the road — in some small part, anyway — to bad luck.

Since the NFL began awarding the season-opening Thursday game to the previous year’s Super Bowl champion in 2004, the Orioles either had a scheduled off-day or were on the road on the date of the prime-time affair eight out of nine times. The Orioles played a scheduled home game in 2007 and rescheduled a game that was postponed earlier in the season in 2011.

The Blast defeated the Chicago Soul, 10-7, in Game Two of the Semifinals to advance to the 2013 MISL Championship Series. This is the team’s third straight trip to the Championship Series and the opponent will be determined Sunday afternoon when the Comets and Wave play their second game. Five different players scored in the win with Adauto Neto recording the game-winning goal.

Just like in Game One, the Soul scored the first goal of the match, when Fred Degand opened the scoring with 11 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

After a scoreless second quarter and a three-point goal from the Soul to start the second half, the Blast came alive, scoring five straight goals in less than seven minutes.  Ptah Myers continued his scoring streak, knocking in the Blast’s first goal, followed by Lucas Roque and then Neto who gave the Blast their first lead of the night at 6-5. J.T. Noone scored the fourth goal to put the Blast on top 8-5 and Machel Millwood added a goal to make it 10-5.

The Soul scored the last goal of the match, with just about a minute to go but were unable to come back from the third-quarter deficit.

The Blast will host either the Wave or Comets in Game Two of the Championship Series on Saturday, March 16.  For tickets, call 410-73-BLAST or go to www.TicketMaster.com.

Led by Adauto Neto and Lucas Roque, the Blast earned a 22-13 victory in Game One of the MISL Semifinal Series Tuesday night against the Chicago Soul. Neto, the veteran, and Roque, the rookie, each recorded three goals. Game Two of the series is scheduled for Saturday night at 1st Mariner Arena.

The Soul jumped out to an early 2-0 lead but the Blast fought back to take a 6-4 lead into the first quarter break and never looked back. The teams traded goals in the first 12 minutes with Marco Sullo opening the scoring, just after the two-minute mark, and Roque tying the game at 2-2. Carlos Farias regained Chicago’s lead at 4-2 but Roque scored his second goal of the quarter to tie it again and Adauto Neto put the Blast on top 6-4.

Tickets for Saturday’s home MISL Semifinal Game against the Soul are available by calling 410-73-BLAST or by going to www.TicketMaster.com.

Glenn Clark’s Rankings…

32. Kansas City Chiefs (32)

Stay low for Geno?

31. Oakland Raiders (30)

I’d say they had a good chance to get a win this weekend, but…

30. Arizona Cardinals (26)

How has Larry Fitzgerald not completely lost his mind?

29. Philadelphia Eagles (25)

The Ravens lost to this team…

28. Jacksonville Jaguars (31)

Chad by God Henne.

27. Cleveland Browns (28)

Eight turnovers…barely squeaked by.

26. New York Jets (24)

SAVE US, TEBOW!

25. Buffalo Bills (23)

But Toronto won the Grey Cup!

24. Tennessee Titans (22)

Didn’t mention Munchak on the hot seat, but he is, right?

23. St. Louis Rams (27)

Wondering if other teams can trade for Ryan Lindley.

22. San Diego Chargers (21)

Now beat Cincinnati, please.

21. Carolina Panthers (29)

Looked an awful lot like what they were supposed to look like.

20. Detroit Lions (19)

God awful way to lose.

19. Dallas Cowboys (17)

What do you do when the quarterback isn’t your problem but the quarterback has to be portrayed as the problem?

18. Minnesota Vikings (13)

But at least they only have to go to Green Bay next week.

17. Miami Dolphins (20)

Not buying back in yet.

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As always, this week’s 15-7-0 is brought to you by Roofing By Elite. Visit them at roofingbyelite.com. We make 15 observations about football that are ELITE, 7 that are “not so ELITE” and one “zero” who deserves to sleep on the roof from outside of football.

(As a reminder, we don’t do Baltimore Ravens game analysis here. We do PLENTY of that elsewhere. This is about the rest of the world of football.)

Here we go.

“The Elite 15″…

1. I have to assume that at this point they don’t need to keep trying to wake up the echoes in South Bend.

Remember when the Trojans were down two scores late and went for it on 4th down anyway? I bet that worked out well…

I can’t tell if Fighting Irish LB (and likely Heisman Trophy finalist) Manti Te’o was excited about the win, though…

Also, what do you think Lane Kiffin was thinking here…

Of course, the Trojans are NEVER losers…

2. Now that Jay Cutler has returned to save the Chicago Bears’ season, we can all get back to talking about how much Jay Cutler sucks.

He’s unlikeable, but he’s a hell of a QB…

Back to that “unlikeable” thing. Ask AJ Jefferson…

J’Marcus Webb might disagree though…

3. Jesus. Weren’t the Bengals just completely dead a couple weeks ago?

Mohamed Sanu had a busy day (on my fantasy football bench)…

Credit to NFL Red Zone’s Scott Hanson-who saw Raiders DL Tommy Kelly in a fight and IMMEDIATELY noticed he was a doppelganger for Suge Knight…

4. There might be a LITTLE bit of drama headed to New York this year, but I’m pretty confident Johnny Manziel has locked up the Heisman Trophy.

His big game Saturday against Missouri happened AFTER Johnny Football overcame this troublesome looking injury…

Manziel will finally speak to the media for the first time Monday. He’ll have to play catch up to the all out blitz the Irish have gone through with Te’o…

5. Now Alabama plays Georgia next week for the right to be favored to win the BCS Championship Game.

Georgia’s Alec Ogletree prepared for the SEC Championship showdown by going all Kurt Angle on Georgia Tech…

Elsewhere in the SEC, I give you Jarvis Landry!

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Glenn Clark’s Rankings…

32. Jacksonville Jaguars (31)

I had a funny feeling they’d end up back here.

31. Kansas City Chiefs (32)

In my heart of hearts, their defense is better than the Jags’.

30. Cleveland Browns (26)

The entire state is too concerned with the Buckeyes’ pursuit of an undefeated season to notice.

29. Carolina Panthers (28)

Oh right. They stink. Sorry I forgot that.

28. Oakland Raiders (24)

Just an absolutely piss poor effort. Which I appreciated.

27. New York Jets (25)

Rex is popular enough that he’ll survive this.

26. St. Louis Rams (30)

They deserved to lose and stole a tie.

25. Arizona Cardinals (23)

Welcome back from the bye. Enjoy Atlanta.

24. Buffalo Bills (27)

That was pretty respectable.

23. Philadelphia Eagles (21)

There are too many good players to be this bad.

22. Washington Redskins (22)

This is a big stretch here after the bye for Mike Shanahan.

21. Tennessee Titans (29)

Where the hell did that come from?

20. San Diego Chargers (18)

And yet…do any of you feel comfortable about the Ravens’ trip to San Diego next week?

19. Miami Dolphins (14)

This is a crucial test for them on Thursday Night Football.

18. Dallas Cowboys (19)

They don’t go away, do they?

17. Detroit Lions (12)

That could end up being a brutal loss to their playoff hopes.

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In another high-scoring affair between Baltimore and Chicago, the Blast defeated the Soul 17-9 Friday night at 1st Mariner Arena.  With a goal and an assist in the first half, Blast forward Machel Millwood moved into fifth on the team’s all-time scoring list.

Unlike last week’s opening night match between the Blast and Soul, the Blast scored the first goal of the game tonight, when Lucio Gonzaga found the back of the net for the 2-0 lead.  The teams traded goals for the rest of the first quarter, as Carlos Munoz tied it at 2-2 before Pat Healey regained the Blast lead (4-2).  Chicago midfielder Matthew Stewart scored next, giving the Soul a short-lived 5-4 lead until Blast team captain Mike Lookingland put the Blast on top 6-5 to end the quarter.

Rookie Marco Mangione, the son of original Blast player Nick Mangione, scored the first goal of his career early in the second quarter to extend Baltimore’s lead to 8-5.  With Adriano Dos Santos serving a tripping penalty, CC Meza converted on a power play opportunity to cut the Blast lead to 8-7 before Neto and Millwood scored back-to-back goals two minutes apart to make it 12-7.  Tony Donatelli, who scored three goals last weekend against the Soul, scored a three-pointer to end the first half and extend the Blast lead to 15-7.

After a scoreless third quarter and nearly 10 scoreless minutes in the fourth quarter, Healey knocked in a power play goal to give the Blast a 17-7 lead.  Shortly after Healey’s second goal of the night, Stewart scored his second goal to cut Baltimore’s lead to 17-9.

The Blast will return to 1st Mariner Arena Saturday night to host the 1-1 Syracuse Silver Knights.

The Blast kicked off their 33rd season of professional indoor soccer in Baltimore last weekend with a 23-13 win over Friday night’s opponent, the Chicago Soul.  The Soul, led by former Blast player Carlos Farias, jumped out to a 7-2 lead after just four minutes of play but Blast newcomer Tony Donatelli recorded three first-quarter goals to lead the Blast to a come-from-behind victory.  Millwood, Baltimore’s longest-tenured player, recorded two goals and one assist in the victory as eight different Blast players scored in the game.

There’s no Place Like Home
The Blast, 9-3 at home last season, starts 2012-13 with four straight home games in the span of just 13 days.  The team has boasted winning records at home each of the last six seasons and has had winning home records in 17 of the last 19 seasons.  The Blast enters this weekend’s games on a seven-game regular-season home win streak.

Welcome to Baltimore
Donatelli, who was named to the MISL Team of the Week after his opening-night performance, recorded three goals in 14 minutes to keep the Blast in the game and lead the team to victory.  Donatelli added an assist late in the game for seven total points in his return to the indoor field.  Goalkeeper Troy Hernandez made his Blast debut last weekend, turning away nine of the 15 shots he faced and Lucas Roque, another newcomer, contributed one assist.

The Competition:

The Silver Knights, who lost their season opener to the Soul, bounced back the following night for a 16-10 win over the Rochester Lancers.  Led by Nelson Santana (eight points), Matt Clare (five points) and Andre Berenzen (four points), the Knights placed two players, Santana and goalkeeper Bryan O’Quinn, on this week’s MISL Team of the Week.

Upcoming Games
Friday, November 16 vs. Milwaukee Wave – 7:35 p.m.
Saturday, November 17 at Rochester – 7 p.m.

Glenn Clark’s Rankings…

32. Kansas City Chiefs (32)

Getting rid of Stanford Routt will probably solve everything, though.

31. Jacksonville Jaguars (31)

I have to come up with eight more weeks of commentary to make about them.

30. St. Louis Rams (29)

They really have three wins?

29. Tennessee Titans (26)

They’re better than that, aren’t they?

28. Carolina Panthers (30)

I THINK they’re on the uptick?

27. Buffalo Bills (27)

Played the Texans better than the Ravens did.

26. Cleveland Browns (25)

But they’ve got Phil Dawson.

25. New York Jets (24)

Has any team ever been less excited to come back from a bye week?

24. Oakland Raiders (23)

It’s a good time to see them here.

23. Arizona Cardinals (19)

I’ve got nothing.

22. Washington Redskins (18)

At least they have their throwback uniforms.

21. Philadelphia Eagles (17)

Firing Juan Castillo totally solved their O-Line.

20. Cincinnati Bengals (20)

I left them alone for keeping things competitive against the Broncos. I’m giving them too much credit.

19. Dallas Cowboys (15)

Jerry Jones should be locked out of a number of rooms at this point.

18. San Diego Chargers (28)

I knocked them down too far. I’ll probably do it again.

17. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (22)

DOUG MARTIN DOUG MARTIN DOUG MARTIN DOUG MARTIN DOUG MARTIN DOUG MARTIN.

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