Does wondering why Rex Ryan is in town along with Jason Garrett prove how much of a life that I don’t have? I don’t care, I’m wondering. Is Rex in to be a Head Coach candidate, or is he in the room to be Garrett’s next defensive coordinator?

This is better than any soap opera on television. I know, it is a soap opera. No, you won’t lose your “man card” over tuning in to this version of, “As The World Turns.”

I will be the first to admit, I don’t like the Jason Garrett hire, as it looks that this is going to happen. However, I host a sports talk radio show and coach women’s basketball. I don’t run an NFL team. Dick Cass and Ozzie Newsome have forgotten more about football than I’ll ever know.

I’m hoping that Garrett will fail!!!

Exactly. I’m hoping he will be here for about a decade, have a winning record, win a Super Bowl, win a couple of divisional titles and manage one of the classiest organizations in football.

Let’s be honest, if Garrett does that, we’ll all say he did a good job. Maybe even a great job. That’s what the last coach did, and many of us called him a failure.

If Garrett doesn’t live up to Billick’s awful record, what will that make him? Truthfully, I hope he, at least, fails the way Billick did. In fact, most coaches would love to have that type of failure.

So, as it seems Baltimore is preparing to welcome our new Head Coach, here’s wishing you the same type of failure, Jason Garrett. Let’s begin another era.

I don’t know if it’s a case of “Jumping the Gun,” or “Reading the Writing on the Wall,” but it looks as if Jason Garrett may be the Ravens next Head Coach.

We can pick his career apart all we want, but if the Ravens pull the trigger on this one, he’ll be charged with making Baltimore a winner, again.

Garrett is credited with making the Cowboys offense “click” this season. The truth is, the Cowboys had a top five offense during the 2006 season. Garrett inherited a team that had an NFL quarterback, insert joke here, a very good running game, an All-Pro receiver, a solid tight end, and a complimentary offensive line.

In the Ravens, he has a very good running game, and a very good tight end. I’m interested to see how, not if, Ozzie Newsome and the gang change the roster.

Say what you want, but that’s the Ravens biggest problem. No, this isn’t a “The Ravens shouldn’t have fired Billick” speech. I’m just saying that the organization’s next step should be fortifying this roster. The team is crossing the line of veteran and becoming old.

While it was fun watching this group of Ravens’ legends grow, it’ll be as much fun watching the next groug become legends. Is it football season, yet?

I picked a San Diego – Carolina Super Bowl matchup in August. Well, possibly one out of two isn’t so bad after all, is it? But for San Diego to prevail next Sunday in Foxborough, it’s going to take good fortune and good health. The fortune part is basically out of the Chargers’ control, but the health factor is what all eyes will be on this week. LaDainian Tomlinson, knee issues. Philip Rivers, ditto. Antonio Gates, dislocated big toe. If all three of these guys can’t go Sunday, then New England carves them up. If they are able to play, and play effectively, then I could see them taking the Pats down to the wire. One thing that I like about San Diego is their secondary. Granted, Peyton Manning did throw for 402 yards and three TDs yesterday, but the Chargers DBs made some big plays. Antonio Cromartie was jobbed out of a return touchdown by one of the most bogus holding calls you’ll ever see. And how about the interception by Eric Weddle? With an offensive lineman holding him (why no flag there? And why no flag for ineligible receiver downfield?) Weddle one-handed a Manning pass to kill a Colts drive inside the Chargers’ five yard line. Basically caught it in the crook of his elbow. I’m telling you, I can envision a scenario in which the Chargers rough up New England’s receivers and pressure Tom Brady enough to make the upset a reality. But maybe that’s more my heart talking than my head. These are the 17-0 Patriots, after all.

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After Saturday afternoon’s loss at Virginia Tech, the Maryland Terrapins men’s basketball team is now 10-7, 0-2 in the ACC. I firmly believe that Gary Williams needs to play Adrian Bowie at point guard and start rotating Greveis Vasquez and Cliff Tucker at shooting guard. Vasquez’ shoot-first mentality and general ball-hogging are the undoing of this team offensively. If you’re a Terps fan and you were watching the game, was there any doubt that Vasquez was taking the final shot? Not in my mind. This team is too predictable, too young and too inconsistent to even think about making the NCAA Tournament. They could very well miss the NIT too. Not that anyone cares about that.

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I imagine things are going to be considerably busier around Owings Mills this week now that Jason Garrett’s Dallas Cowboys have been eliminated. The early buzz has been that Steve Bisciotti favors Garrett. Jerry Jones has stated that Wade Phillips will remain as the Cowboys’ Head Coach. What I’m wondering is if the Ravens’ search committee has interest in any assistant coaches on the four remaining playoff teams. If so, then the process could draw out for another week. Either way, I’m betting the team will announce the new Head Coach sometime in the next two weeks, no later than the Sunday before the Super Bowl. I still favor Garrett, or if not him, Jim Schwartz. And speaking of Schwartz, are the Ravens even interested? If not, why? Could it be that they’re afraid of the potential long-term ugliness should a hometown boy fail?

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I brought his up Saturday afternoon during Thyrl’s show, and I’m going to say it again here: Where does this bashing of Ray Lewis being responsible for Brian Billick’s firing have any basis in fact? I know of one instance this year where #52 made his feelings known. “You can’t make oranges be peaches.” That was on his radio show, and not made to reporters. Was Ray wrong? Sure. But to take that statement and extrapolate it into some supposed vendetta that Ray had for Billick is nothing more than pure speculation. I’m continually amazed at the number of people who bash Ray Lewis on-air and in these blog comments as a “cancer” in the locker room. How do you know this to be a fact? Is it because, like it or not, for better or worse, Ray has been the face of the franchise for a decade? If #52 is so unhappy, then how does he continue to play at such a high level? If you think I’m mistaken about Ray’s level of play, may I direct you to this season’s Cincy and Cleveland home games as examples of his current ability.

We seem to go through this same process every year that the Ravens disappoint us. It’s odd that nobody cracks on Ray publicly about his “leadership” or “cancerous behavior” when the team is 10-6 or 13-3. But every season that the team backslides, it’s the same old chorus about how RayRay is a locker room cancer, how he only cares about himself, how he hates Billick, etc. Where are the factual statements to back up these charges? How come nobody ever says, “Hey, Ray’s got a right to be frustrated with the team’s offensive performance”? Why is it that the majority of Ravens’ fans have so easily glossed over the fact that Ray Lewis is the greatest player in Baltimore Ravens history? And where and when will the evidence arise that he led some sort of campaign to have Billick fired? Didn’t Billick call the plays on offense? Weren’t the past six years of offensive futility enough to justify his firing? Do you really believe that after three disappointing seasons in the last four, Billick hadn’t sealed his own fate?

I’m simply exhausted by this speculation and argument. How do we know that it wasn’t some backup defensive back like Corey Ivy who played clubhouse lawyer? Maybe it was the entire team. We don’t know, we’ll never know, and we need to accept the choice that the owner has made. It’s his $600 million. It’s also his first major move as owner. Give it a chance, and let’s see how much of a “cancer” Ray Lewis is in 2008, win or lose.

To frame it in a simple way, ask yourself this: Would you rather see Brian Billick go or Ray Lewis? Who do you think gives the Ravens a better chance to win?

To me, it’s a no-brainer. So until we get the locker room “facts”, let’s get behind #52 instead of on his back.

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After witnessing the end of yesterday’s Giants-Cowboys game, I guess those Diet Pepsi ads featuring Jerry Jones aren’t such a stretch after all. Am I the only one who expected JJ to grab the headset from Wade Phillips and call the plays on Dallas’ final drive? If Jason Garrett has any sense, he’ll run away from that meddling owner as fast as Steve Bisciotti can say “Five years, $20 Million”.

Now that the Colts and Cowboys have lost I think we will find out fairly quickly who our new coach will be. Here are my thoughts on several of the names that have been floating around.

1. Jason Garrett – I think he is the Ravens top choice. I just do not know why. Garrett is nothing more than the beneficiary of team loaded with offensive talent. He did not design this offense. As a matter of fact he really hasn’t done any better than Tony Sporano did in 2006 when he was calling the plays. Dallas scored 455 points in 2007. They scored 425 in 2006. Do not be fooled by the numbers. Anyone coaching this team would have put up similar numbers.

2. Tony Sparano- Like most people I believe he goes to Miami.

3. Jim Caldwell – I think he is replacing Dungy. I think Dungy may retire after this tough loss at home. Most people think Dungy is done or has 1 more year before he retires. Caldwell is his heir apparent.

4. Rex Ryan – Like Garrett I believe Rex Ryan has been the beneficiary of  extremely talented players. What has Rex accomplished that Lewis and Nolan didn’t? I like Rex. I think he is a solid coach. But he is all wrong for the Ravens.

Fist of all this team needs discipline. Rex is too friendly with the players to instill that discipline. Our defense lacked discipine. Whether it was Suggs jumping offsides regularly, Bart Scott throwing flags into the stands, or Ed Reed leaving his assignment only to have us think Rolle or Cmac got burnt in coverage, Rex was never able to stop these types of breakdowns. If he could not control the D, why does anyone think he could control the entire team?

Another reason I am against Rex is that the players want him. We can not have the inmates running the asylum. Billick and his staff were fired to bring in a fresh outlook. The team needs to be led in a new direction. I feel Rex would just maintain status quo.

5. Marvin Lewis – He is overrated as a DC. Just like Rex Ryan, Lewis was the beneficiary of tremendous talent on that side of the ball. As a HC he has done practically nothing. Cinci is basically a team that has played .500 football for the last 5 seasons. 3, 8-8 finishes, 1, 7-9 finish and 1, 11-5 finish. They have really had only one good season in his tenure.

He is supposed to be a defensive “genius”. His defenses have been sub par in Cinci. His best d ranking was 19th. The other 4 seasons were 30, 29, 28, 27. Hardly a stellar record. He had some talent his 2 years in Washington. The defenses in DC were ranked 5 and 25. The year he was 5th that didn’t tell the whole story because they were 21st in points allowed.

Marvin also is a poor judge of character. If he isn’t, the character of his players just does not matter to him. Look at the criminal record of the team under Marvin’s watchful eye. Also look at the way players like Chris Henry keep getting put on the field no matter how many times he is arrested or suspended by the league.

Now he has lost the team. Carson Palmer is ripping him in public. Once the locker room is divided you are going nowhere but down.

5. Marty Schottenheimer – He is my pick. I do not care about his age or post season record. What I do care about is he was just 14-2. He has had only 2 losing seasons in 21 years of coaching. He has a career .613 winning%. He made the playoffs in 13 of 21 years. I know he has a 5-13 post season record, but you can not get to the big dance unless you make the playoffs. Marty gives you that chance 2 out of every three seasons according to his past performance. Don’t forget he would have been in two Super Bowls if Earnest Byner does not fumble and Elway does not engineer “The Drive”.

I also like him because he instantly demands the respect of everyone in the organization. He will give this team the discipline it sorely needs.  It is time for a different message and Marty clearly has a different message than Billick.

I also like the fact that he already has Cam Cameron as OC and Mike Solari as Oline coach. Do not mention Marty ball. With Marty and Cameron running the Chargers O they were the # 1 scoring offense in 2006 and the #5 scoring offense in 2005.

Solari has been in KC most of his days. Many of you remember the stellar olines that KC had in the past. Mike Solari was the man coaching those offensive lines from 1997 -2005. He was the OC there the last 2 seasons.

I didn’t mention several other candidates because I did not feel they were getting serious consideration. Obviously this blog in based solely on the opinion I have formed based on the facts as I see them. Please feel free to agree or disagree with me. I just ask you give some reasons to back up your opinions.

Quick Plug: Now’s the time to spend a half hour making notes for your ’08 Fantasy Draft. Don’t be the guy that forgot that Ron Grant came on strong. And here’s a special plug to my fantasy whipping-boy Nick Pavlou’s segment on Fantasy Sharks: The Nuthouse. If you’ve never done an auction draft or if you’re a veteran of the “going once, going twice…” trenches, you’re plain silly if you miss this.

Now onto the Ravens’ latest blunder…

Now that the Ravens’ brass has taken input from the players, the fans, the sponsors, the media and Jebus; everybody’s happy. Now what?

It’s been said that the backup QB is the most popular guy in town. Except in Baltimore, where the 3rd string QB is even more popular. Had the season gone on for another 2 weeks I’m sure the QB on the practice squad would be in the running.

That’s equally true of the head coach. Now the most popular guy in town doesn’t have a name or a face, but damn if he isn’t gonna be Baltimore Royalty until September’s home opener.

We’ve been bombarded w/ names. Sparano, Garrett, Caldwell, Schwartz, 2 Schottenheimers, our boy Rex and I’m sure there are some I’m missing.

Who’s turned on by any of these guys?

The resumes of the first 3 are propped up by ProBowl QBs.

Schwartz is the local boy done good (and one helluva a guy) but he’s also unproven.

The Ravens franchise has more playoff victories than Martyball has post-season wins. No thanks.

That leaves Rex (Jebus loves all his children). We know the players like him. Hell, I speak for the fans, so I say we like him too. The sponsors might not think he’s the sexiest pick, but Tessco will still throw around ad dollars like monkeys throw poop. The media has no reason not to love Rex. Buddy Ryan was among the best press conference hosts when I was growing up. Rex might have that in him too.

That said, I can’t see Rex wearing The Headset when the first practice whistle blows. Why fire him and then interview him? Don’t you know the guy by now? I’m not a shrewd businessman or a great manager of people, but I gotta think that you don’t fire a guy and then rehire him a month later. So that means no Rex.

Who did we miss? Mike Martz.  Oh, the guy who can run an offense like Britney runs redlights. Trick plays, reverses, halfback options, wishbone formations, receivers stacked 3 deep, I even once saw him perform a Triple Lindy. After the Billick Era of no offense, it’s time to get a guy in here that moves the ball. As a head coach, he’s lead a top 10 offense in 5 of 6 seasons, he’s been to a Superbowl and only once has he had a defense ranked better than 13th in the league.

You blew it, Owings Mills. Had you married the high-octane offense of Mike Martz w/ the still-viable defense of the boys in Purple and you’d have had a recipe for success.

You don’t think that Ravens’ Stadium wouldn’t have erupted the first time Martz had Todd Heap line up under center and throw a flea flicker to a wide-open Haloti Ngata?

For now, the one thing everybody can agree on is that whoever comes in, the offense will be more exciting than check-down left to Mason for 3, incomplete check-down right to Mason for 3, check-down to Mason for 2, punt. Repeat.

Martz is off the market…where’s Marchibroda these days?

Also, props to the readers who corrected my earlier plea that the Ravens sign Martz now. He’s since signed w/ the 49ers. The KBG doesn’t always get it right.

• I could write an entire book about NFL head coaches making the game more complicated than it needs to be. For all the big money contracts, long hours at the office and film study of opponents, many of them seem to overlook the simplicity of addition and subtraction regarding the scoreboard. Mike Tomlin is just the latest example of this. His insistence on going for two point conversions in the fourth quarter Saturday night changed the strategy and outcome of that game. Consider that if Tomlin had simply kicked extra points following both of those touchdowns and the game had played out exactly the same way, Josh Scobee’s field goal would have tied the game at 31 and they would have headed to OT. Sometimes it may not be as exciting or gutsy to just boot the extra point through the uprights, but it’s the smartest play. It’s really quite simple: Only go for two when absolutely necessary! Why do NFL head coaches eschew this easy rule of thumb? I work in construction and I can figure it out! How come these multimillionaires cannot?
• Speaking of football made easy, early in the fourth quarter of that Jax-Pittsburgh game, the Jaguars had the ball around their own thirty yard line, holding an eleven point lead with about 11:30 left on the clock. You would think the Jags would run here; even if unsuccessful, three runs into the line would have taken about three minutes off the clock after they punted. Instead, Jax went incomplete, incomplete, incomplete and then punted, giving the Steelers the ball and the additional time on the clock. Why? I always believed that if you held a lead of any margin in the fourth quarter, especially on the road, the best ally was the clock. You control the game more substantially when the clock winds down; the less time you allow your opponent to come back, the greater your opportunity to win becomes. Simple, right? I guess not.
• Santana Moss made the absolute worst play of the weekend’s games. His failure to see the pass that Marcus Trufant intercepted was bad enough, but his total lack of effort in trying to get to Trufant was even more contemptible. Just a totally unprofessional play.
• I hope the powers-that-be in Owings Mills are calling Jim Schwartz today. I wrote last week, and said on my show Saturday, that I’d like to see the Ravens hire Jason Garrett. But I’m going to pull a “Bisciotti” here and make a different decision. I’m going to go with a “gut feeling”. Jim Schwartz is now my favorite candidate. His steady guidance of the Tennessee defense and seeming ability to improve young players under his teaching has moved him up in my eyes. Funny how the Titans did a very credible job defensively yesterday against the NFL’s best running back, but were ultimately undermined by erratic, substandard quarterback play. Sound familiar?
• This upcoming NFL Divisional Round promises to be special. Each game has intriguing storylines. Can Seattle make up for their last playoff trip to Lambeau Field? Will the Packers treat Brett Favre to a magical playoff run (probably his last)? Can Jacksonville do the unthinkable Saturday night in Foxboro? Will they completely crumble against an undefeated and historic Patriots team? Can San Diego do it to Indy for a third straight time, probably without their best receiver, Antonio Gates, missing? Has everyone underestimated the Colts because of New England’s success? Will T.O. play for Dallas, and is he healthy enough to make a difference? Can Eli Manning possibly win two straight road playoff games? Have Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson returned from Cancun? If so, why?
• I hope you ACC basketball fans saw last night’s Clemson – NC thriller from Littlejohn Coliseum. Terrific game, worthy teams and OT to boot. If the Tar Heels aren’t the nation’s deepest team, I’m afraid to find out who is. Wayne Ellington’s three with 0.4 seconds left in overtime was absolutely cold-blooded. Clemson, by the way, should still finish third in the conference. If their confidence isn’t derailed by last night’s disappointment, that is. I think Oliver Purnell is too good of a coach to let that happen, though. Hey, it’s the ACC; every team will suffer heartbreaking losses like that in conference play.
• Gary Williams took control of the Maryland locker room last week, and it’s paying dividends. There’s the difference between college and professional coaching. Can you imagine the media firestorm that would have occurred if Brian Billick had all the Ravens’ players nameplates taken off their lockers, and told every one of them to remove personal photos, etc. from their lockers? Good win for the Terps Saturday in Charlotte, though. But I’m going to agree with Glenn Clark on this: Maryland absolutely has to win 10 ACC regular season games to merit consideration for an NCAA bid. Those home losses to Ohio U. and American are RPI wreckers.
• Speaking of Maryland basketball, how can the Lady Terps be 18-1 and only the 5^th ranked team in the country? Brenda Frese has built a powerhouse, folks. Beating any ACC team by 64 (!) should prove that.
• My pick for tonight’s BCS Championship Game: LSU 37, Ohio State 19. And a 2 loss team is the National Champion?!? PLEASE, NCAA Athletic Directors, PLEASE give us a Division I football playoff. If this season hasn’t shown you the light, what will?
• Baseball Hall of Fame nominees I think should get in this year: Goose Gossage, Lee Smith, Jim Rice (why he still isn’t in is a mystery to me – second most-feared cleanup hitter of his era behind Eddie Murray) and Andre Dawson. As much as I believe Bert Blyleven, Tommy John and Jack Morris are worthy, those other four have to get in first.
• Speaking of baseball, memo to Andy MacPhail: You have approximately five weeks left before Spring Training begins. Last time I checked, Melvin Mora, Kevin Millar and Aubrey Huff were still on the Orioles 40 man roster. You might want to start making some “exploratory” phone calls around the league. Oh, I almost forgot about Jay Gibbons. Isn’t there some team out there that needs a washed up, overpriced juicer? Get some BP balls for him and let’s make the deal. If MacPhail thought the media reaction to Billick’s firing was something, wait until he trots out those four guys for introductions on Opening Night at Camden Yards! All 7,382 fans in attendance will get the message across!

Hello everyone!

For my first blog I was all set to write about how I was glad to see that the Orioles had given Dave Trembley the official nod as manager of the Orioles. While it is WAY to early to say that he has turned the team around, you can certainly say that he has gotten more out of the team in a little over two months than Sam Perlozzo had in his time as manager. It is the right call by the team to have their affairs in order as they move into the off-season. Trembley has earned his place as manager in a short time.

I heard an interesting point today. Some of the most successful managers (Tony LaRussa, Sparky Anderson, Jim Leyland, Earl Weaver to name a few) spent very little time in the big leagues as managers. They had to work, and learn, and sit, and listen a great deal of the time. They then had to fight for every move up they took.

The Good News – Congratulations to Dave Trembley. You are exactly the kind of guy that Baltimore loves to root for. We wish you the best.

THEN…came the BAD NEWS:

So the Orioles just finished the first game of the double header against the Texas Rangers….and they gave up 30 runs!!!!! This on a night they made the new manager official, and Matt Wieters attends his first game as a member of the franchise. Oh yeah, Garrett Olson (Baltimore’s struggling rookie) starts game two. YIKES!!!! This was supposed to be a team that we could beat up on in an attempt to get closer to .500. Apparently the Rangers didn’t get the memo.

There is an old saying in baseball when a bullpen is struggling, and the manager needs everything his starter has…”Its you today!” I hope Olson did get the memo.

Yes, it was ugly. Yes, it was embarassing. Yes, it is almost football season. It is also one game out of 162. We should all try to remember that as we try to settle our stomachs before we go to bed tonight…. That is, if you can sleep after this.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I will be talking about the Orioles here. I will also be writing about Major League Baseball and all of the cool things that are going on. It is hard to see it as Oriole fans, but there are some great races going on in the game. Great races, real records are being broken, and the post-season looks like it could be a lot of fun.

Thank you everyone! I look forward to communicating with you here at the WNST blog site.

Allen