GOT A WIFE AND KIDS IN BALTIMORE JACK ~ Bruce Springsteen held his first press conference in over 20 years yesterday in Tampa to discuss his upcoming appearance as the halftime entertainer during Super Bowl XLIII. Springsteen has never really been a very available guy to the media and it is somewhat surprising that he and his E Street Band would embrace the commercialism and pageantry of the Super Bowl.  As wide-eyed as a toddler seeing Santa Claus for the first time, WNST’s Nestor Aparicio posed the questions why here and why now to The Boss. "Really, why we said yes this year was because, we have a new album coming out!'' Springsteen replied. "C'mon. There's a new record in the stores. It just happened to come out this past week. So we have our mercenary reasons of course. Besides our deep love of football.'' Sarcasm dripped from that last quip, something that I’m sure didn’t sit too well with the NFL execs that are paying Springstee...

  I was at the gym this morning running and dialed up some uplifting, inspirational music on my ipod to boost my energy and shake off this bad karma that’s been dogging me about this weekend’s AFC Championship Game.    Enter Bruce Springsteen’s Promised Land…   Suddenly visions of happy moments at M&T Bank Stadium tumbled to the forefront of my thoughts and almost as suddenly I envisioned a ray of light breaking through the clouds of bad mojo courtesy of Cam Cameron’s play calling of late.   I listened to Bruce sing…   Blow away the dreams that tear you apart Blow away the dreams that break your heart   I have to admit, I’m not quite there.  I still have serious doubts about this game but that will not break my will as a fan and it will not make me any less passionate in my support of our team.   After my run, I pulled up the lyrics to Promi...

SAID IT’S A MISTAKE…IT’S A MISTAKE ~ The Ravens were notified by the league that the 34 yard pass interference penalty against Samari Rolle during the Ravens @ Bills contest was a big fat mistake.  Replays showed that Rolle’s coverage on the play was nearly text book.  The back judge was sent to his room with no dessert.  The Ravens were sent home with a loss.   Plays like this one need to either be reviewed by replay or they should not be spot fouls.  Clearly the crime didn’t fit the punishment.  Perhaps more teams should pay attention to officiating crews that call ticky-tack fouls like that and take advantage of it.  Why not?  What’s the alternative for the Ravens, another third down throw short of the first down marker?   BLACKBIRD SINGING IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT ~ ESPN 1300’s Damon Yaffe was stiffed by the fledgling indoor football team the Baltimore Blackbirds…at least according to Yaffe.  No surprise there if you...

THERE’S TOO MANY MEN…TOO MANY PEOPLE MAKING TOO MANY PROBLEMS ~ And not much of a pass rush to go around.  Without pressure on the quarterback, the Ravens cover skills in the secondary have been exposed.  Rex Ryan will certainly burn the midnight oil to get it figured out.  Besides Antwan Barnes and Terrell Suggs, the only players applying any heat to the Cardinals’ QB’s on Sunday were unfortunately members of the secondary.  Trevor Pryce is sorely missed and the idea of rotating Dwan Edwards and Barnes to fill in for Pryce looked good on paper.  The trouble is Dwan Edwards is still coming out of his three point stance  from Sunday.   IT’S BEEN A LONG, LONG TIME COMIN’ BUT I KNOW, A CHANGE IS GONNA COME…YES IT IS ~ The Ravens players and management publicly seem to have kept their collective composure after the back-to-back fourth quarter meltdowns against the Jets and Cardinals.  And that is key to managing the season.  Some...

SWEET HOME ALABAMA ~ While it was unusual for Ozzie Newsome to go to the Tiger well of Auburn University for collegiate talent, he certainly remained true to the State of Alabama.  Besides first round pick Ben Grubbs, the Ravens caught the wave of a Crimson Tide when they selected Le’Ron McClain with the final pick of Round 4 and then signed undrafted free agent offensive tackle Kyle Tatum.   CARRY ON MY WAYWARD SONS ~ It seems that whenever a player with a productive past is released by his current team, fans here in B’more want to add him to the Ravens’ roster.  Case in point – Keyshawn Johnson.  I say “Pass!”  Why?  That’s simple!  KJ plays on a team that needs help at receiver yet after 70 catches and 815 yards to go with 4 TD’s the Panthers “Just Gave Him the Damn Boot!”   "We appreciated the contribution of Keyshawn in his season with the Panthers," coach John Fox said. "He brought us high production, ...

I AM HE AS YOU ARE HE AS YOU ARE ME AND WE ARE ALL TOGETHER? ~ The Chicago Bears may have lost Super Bowl XLI to the Colts but unlike one of their fans, they at least kept their identity.   Prior to Super Bowl XLI, Bears’ fan Scott Wiese pledged in front of a full bar of patrons that he would change his name to Peyton Manning if the Colts beat his favorite team.  The Bears lost and so Wiese tried to legally change his name.  No go said Macon County Judge Katherine McCarthy who ruled that Wiese can't legally change his name to Peyton Manning because it might create confusion and disrupt the life of the real Peyton Manning.  And that’s suits Wiese just fine.   "I had told the judge that I was not doing this because I wanted to change my name, but I was doing it because I was honoring a bet," Wiese told the Decatur Herald & Review after Monday's ruling. "I think she understood that."   Upon learning this news, the Ravens ce...

SHOUT, SHOUT…LET IT ALL OUT ~ The Sun is reporting that Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome will have an announcement today, possibly about All-Pro linebacker Adalius Thomas.  If the announcement is about AD, then I might expect one regarding Jamal Lewis as well.  If AD is the subject, I would think that the team will announce that they are tagging AD.  Unless you are Stevie Wonder, why have an announcement just to say "You haven’t done nuthin'?"  Then again, AD is a unique man and the Ravens might want to give him a special send off.  If the tag is applied, Jamal’s release is probably going to be necessary to make room for the $7.2 million tag.   UPDATE (1:33PM): "We will continue to have negotiations with Adalius. I don't know what the market will bear out for him." That's The Oz who took a flyer on the franchise tag.  In less than 3 hours AD will be a free agent.   I WANT YOU TO WANT ME ~ If AD hits the open...

I WANNA BE A COWBOY BABY..RIDIN’ AT NIGHT CAUSE I SLEEP ALL DAY ~ I have to admit, I can’t judge Michael Irvin objectively.  When the Colts left Baltimore, I became a 49ers fan and I despised the Cowboys.  And although I admired the talents of Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith, I could never do the same for Irvin.  He got away with more offensive pass interference than any other receiver that I can recall.  And then when he added for good measure all his skirmishes with the law, I viewed him as nothing more than an overpaid thug.   On ESPN, I can’t watch him.  The way he cackles on the set makes me wonder what he does during commercial breaks.   All that aside, I would have to admit that his statistics are at least Hall of Fame worthy.  Yet I have to ask, how is he deserving of HOF status and Art Monk isn’t?  Maybe Monk needed to be arrested a few times and then deliver mostly incoherent babble on TV and be an apologist for current NF...

BEEN DAZED AND CONFUSED FOR SO LONG IT’S NOT TRUE ~ This past Friday I had a lengthy discussion with a friend of mine who for reasons unconscionable to me remains extremely loyal to the horseshoe.  Yes, this lifetime Baltimorean is still a diehard Colts’ fan. And it’s not as though he’s a bandwagoner.  He’s been an uninterrupted fan of the team since birth, over 46 years ago.   We discussed the then upcoming game between the Colts and the Patriots and he sincerely marveled at my steadfast conviction that during the AFC Championship Game, when I wasn’t thinking about why the Ravens weren’t in it, I would be a HUGE Patriots fan.   He wondered how I could not love the horseshoe and the colors.  I told him that for me that love affair ended on March 28, 1984, the day Robert Irsay broke our hearts.    Our conversation then turned towards the Washington Wizards, a team that since the arrival of Gilbert Arenas I have supported ...

GONNA RIDE LIKE THE WIND ~ Without a doubt Devin Hester is a game changer, a difference maker, a playmaker. He was the 2006 regular season winner in the NFC in punt returns with a 12.8 yard average and in kick returns with a 26.4 yard average. And while Hester has certainly made an impact in his first season with the Bears, did you know that B.J. Sams wasn’t that far behind when he fell to a broken fibula? Sams’ averages were 10.6 yards on punt returns and 25.7 yards on kick returns. If you factor in about 5 punt returns per game and 3 kick returns per game, that equates to roughly 13 yards of total return yards per game. As you can see there’s not a big difference between the two. Similarly there’s not a big difference between Cory Ross and a well positioned crab net on punt returns. Ross is averaging 2.8 yards per punt return while the crab net comes in at a sure-handed 0.0 yards per return. That equates to about 14 yards per game assuming 5 punt returns and the crab net carr...