A few years ago, the estimate of NBA players who smoke marijuana was about 80%, I am not saying that number translates directly to the NFL however, there is a percentage of players who do enjoy that sweet sticky weed.
Cough cough Santonio Hlomes cough cough, try that shit.
However, thanks to Chad Ochocinco the entire world is now enlightened to the processes of NFL drug screening.
Hey Chad, just whenever you get around to it between your VH1 show and training camp, if you happen to stop by your locker at any point and get this message try and head over to the piss collection center and have a chat with the collector. Chad could very easily never see this note considering it looks like Larry Sellers homework and could be taken as a joke.
Of course Ochocinco had something to say on the matter.
If the NFL wants to strengthen their already foolproof system, they should have some minion in lab coat waiting at the gate where the players exit practice and walk with them from the practice facility to the locker room to the testing center so you know players like Santonio Holmes did not switch his piss with someone like Nick Folk.
Depending on how you look at it, I had the good fortune or misfortune of attending last night’s Ravens preseason game against the Carolina Panthers. The night was quite enjoyable until hell fire monsoons rained down upon us in biblical proportions.
The biggest surprise for me last night was that Mark Clayton was finally not afraid to do his job. Clayton made one catch over the middle along with his 30-yd TD reception and most likely sealed his spot as the third receiver edging out Donte’ Stallworth who didn’t exactly kill it out there last night. It was the Mark Clayton who tore up the Bengals two years ago out there last night not the Mark Clayton who could not catch the ball wide open against the Patriots on a comeback route last year.
However, by far the greatest moment of last night was former Western Michigan Bronco basketball star turned lineman, Joe Reitz, attempting to dunk and epically failing on national television following Troy Smith’s quarterback draw for a touchdown.
Other notable players who most likely still have a spot on the team following last night’s win are cornerbacks Cary Williams and Prince Miller. Williams, despite his Suggsian penchant for domestic violence, played really well through the first three quarters including an interception. Williams also had three tackles to go along with three passes defended. Prince Miller also recorded three tackles and two passes defended but Miller made his biggest impact on special teams. Miller’s 57-yd punt return would certainly be enough to sell coaches on granting him a spot however, the most impressive part of that punt return was that the Ravens did not commit any penalties.
People who ultimately did not improve their status on the team, Terrance Cody (as a fullback), Jalen Parmele and his fumble, Curtis Steele and his fumble, Marc Bulger but I have a slight feeling that he just might not care anymore, anyone who plays on the Rams for that long has to be immune to any social skills and emotional normality.
Next game in D.C. against the Redskins on August 21, 2010.
It has become a trend in the Ravens front office to sign elderly depth to skill positions during the offseason. The problem being these players Ozzie Newsome is signing don’t want to play. Last year wide receiver Drew Bennett spent all of about an hour on the Ravens roster before retiring.
This year’s goat of the offseason is Walt Harris. At 35, Harris originally turned down the Ravens offer in the spring, Harris then decided that he would give the NFL another shot. However, a sore achilles tendon combined with the inability to pass the Ravens’ conditioning test has forced the Ravens to send ol’ Walt out to the proverbial pasture.
The Ravens cut Harris following the signing of Chris Hawkins, an UDFA that was recently cut by the Jacksonville Jaguars. According to the internets, coach John Harbaugh said Harris was cut because he could not stay healthy.
“The Ravens have had a fight song that was all theirs since 1998, when John Modell expertly penned the “Ravens Fight Song” heard at M&T Bank Stadium when the purple and black score.
But it hasn’t really caught on with fans the way the team had hoped.”
There is a reason it hasn’t caught on. It’s lame. The Ravens are not a college or university, the fight song has always been the college schtick, and it needs to stay that way. A fight song only works if everyone is into it. At Michigan State, everyone was into it, everyone knew the words, it has been staple at Spartan Stadium since 1915, ugly uniforms and all.
Trying to force a new fight song on fans is trying faking history, the reasoning behind the new fight song push is to “energize” fans after a touchdown. As if people were not already pumped to see Flacco throw a touchdown to Derrick Mason or Ray Rice rushing for a 20-yd score, they need to increase the energy? I would much rather have the entire fan base at M&T Bank jumping and down to the Fratellis’ Chelsea Dagger like the Chicago Blackhawks faithful after a goal than trying to fake some sense of nostalgia with a lame college-esque fight song. The Ravens are a modern team, they need a modern “energizing” song. The Colts’ fight song needs to stay unchanged.
Besides there is only one fight song, and it starts with “On the banks of the Red Cedar…”
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell made a stop at Westminster today to chat with season ticket holders. If you had your eyes gouged out of your skull to front the money for a personal seat license you get the opportunity to maybe ask the commissioner a question about whatever you like I suppose. Boxers of briefs? Beatles or Rolling Stones? Or you could be lame and ask about the possible lockout.
Goodell also sat down with the Ravens’ recently sidelined player representative Dominique Foxworth over lunch, hopefully the Best Western pulled out all of the stops for Goodell because I have never been impressed with the food, with the exception of the ice cream bar.
I tweeted Foxworth and asked him how the sit down went and what he lacks in specifics, he totally makes up for in awesomeness by responding the first place.
So yeah, who needs a press pass Jamison Hensley, I got connections too, Foxworth told me the lunch with the commish was cool. So I totally know if there is going to be a lockout next year and you don’t. CTR out.
Hey, Ravens fans! I’m back from a long, incredible season with the Baltimore Mariners Arena Football team. What a season it was behind the broadcast booth with my partner John Wolfe. The Baltimore Mariners finished the regular season in the AIFA (American Indoor Football Association) as the undefeated AIFA Champions with an incredible 16-0 record. We had the highest scoring offense (63 points per game) and allowed the fewest rushing yards in the league (12 yards per game). I had the honor of calling the AIFA Championship Bowl IV, which was held at the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, the first professional football championship game in Baltimore since the 1959 NFL Championship game between the Baltimore Colts and the New York Giants. If you didn’t make it out to a game, shame on you, but we will be back next year!
The NFL season is upon us, and the party has started with a bang. Ben Rappistberger is suspended, we don’t have to worry about getting burned (no pun intended) by Santonio Holmes twice a year, just every four years, the two biggest egos in the NFL (Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens) are own the same team (someone get Carson Palmer a bottle of scotch and a hand gun to blow his brains out before the season starts), and the Browns still suck. The Ravens have not been without headlines of their own. The offseason got off to a great start when they updated their wide receivers, signing Donte Stallworth, trading for Anquan Boldin, and re-signing Derrick Mason. The draft went very well, as the Ravens picked up Sergio Kindell and Terrance Cody to beef up the defense. Power ranking, ESPN mouth pieces, and other media outlets had the Ravens as a top 10 or top five team this year.
Enter training camp, and what do we hear? Sergio Kindle fell down the freakin’ steps and cracked his skull. We might lose this kid for the entire season, but I don’t think it will be a suffering, game changing blow for the Ravens front seven. We have great depth, in Paul Kruger and Antwan Barnes who are more than capable of getting the job done. Not to mention, the additions of Cory Redding and a new and improved Terrell Suggs. We should be okay, but it would’ve been nice to have Kindle in the lineup.
It’s cool, at least we have cornerbacks, right, Dominique Foxworth, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! How does one tear an ACL with doing NON-CONTACT WARM-UPS. This is an absolute nightmare for the Baltimore Ravens. Having Fabian Washington and Lardarius Webb coming off knee injuries, and your only other options are K.J. Gerard and Chris Carr doesn’t sit well with me. I had a hard time trusting Foxworth, but he played well at the end of the year except the divisional playoff game. To ease the cornerback pain, they will have to look at other options *cough trade an offensive lineman for Darrell Revis cough* to end the suffering.
And finally, Ed Reed, I should make you a Jackass of the Week, but I’m not going to do that because I have a lot of respect for you. However, this current bickering about your contract and how unpleased you are is ridiculous. Look at yourself, Ed, you have a messed up neck and your just coming off hip surgery. You are an incredible play maker, but I wouldn’t want Ozzie investing money in you if you’re just going to get hurt. The Ravens should concentrate on finding a quality cornerback and invest in Tom Zibikowski at that position.
More to come from the tumultuous training camp situation in Westminster.
After the announcement Friday that Michael Oher and Jared Gaither would be switching spots on the line, the drama started and a mystery injury popped its head up (anyone smell Rosenhaus?) Gaither hasn’t signed his tender and with widespread pre-draft trade talks, it would seem he’s posturing for a move out of Baltimore. With a checkered past coming out of College Park and not being known to have the greatest work ethic, it would seem that Gaither’s head should be focusing on protecting Flacco but I can understand wanting to get the best deal for yourself.
I was on the “no way he’s really hurt” bandwagon initially but The Sun is reporting today that he will have an MRI this week to see what’s really going on.
It’s a tough spot for the Ravens because now they’ve committed the future of the position to Oher and cannot afford to pay two guys left tackle money. This team is built for a run this year so it would be a reach to see them move a player who has proven to be a rock solid performer on the line. He is going to get paid somewhere so it’s just a matter of how much venom his agent has inserted into his helmet. He can stay in Baltimore, making less than the $4 million average salary for a left tackle or he can follow the route T.O took and go rot in Buffalo. Let’s hope he chooses the former.
In the sixth round, the Ravens selected offensive tackle Ramon Harewood from Morehouse College. Normally this pick wouldn’t garner much attention but if you dig a little deeper, this becomes quite a story. Harewood isn’t your typical NFL player with 18 years of experience, he’s actually only played the game for four years. The Barbados native was playing volleyball, rugby and track for his home country when a representative from Morehouse saw him at a college fair and convinced him to give the game a shot. The decision worked out well for both sides as Harewood continued on an academic scholarship in engineering and the team got a two time all-conference offensive lineman.
Harewood is the truest definition of the word “project”. The first step will be changing positions from his normal left tackle position to (I’m guessing) guard as he learns the nuances of becoming an NFL lineman. The physical traits are there no doubt, 6’6″ and 360lbs is a big mound of clay for John Matsko to play with. The youth movement could see him as a factor on the line a few years down the road with some solid coaching and valuable experience alongside the likes of Michael Oher and Jared Gaither. Overall I think this was a great pick for the team with as many 20 other teams keeping an eye on him during the weeks leading up to the draft.
Even with the immediate need for help at corner back, it’s hard to argue with Ozzie and Co. after the draft they just had. I’ll break down each player in separate blogs but at first glance I have to think that at the spots they were taken, the Ravens may have had the best value draft.
Hey Chad, just whenever you get around to it between your VH1 show and training camp, if you happen to stop by your locker at any point and get this message try and head over to the piss collection center and have a chat with the collector. Chad could very easily never see this note considering it looks like Larry Sellers homework and could be taken as a joke.
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