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Fran The Fan - I'm With Stupid

News & Notes from fan's perspective

Posted On: 8/20/10

Written By:

Fran "The Fan" Vojik

Yes.... it's mid-August and Ravens fans everywhere are greeting the return of football by busting open a cold one and rejoicing in the return of the Purple and Black to M&T Bank. Training camp is over and we're one week into the pretend games.

The Ravens beat Carolina last week, but so what? You can't put much stock in the first exhibition - oops sorry - "preseason" game. And it's silly to overreact, positively or negatively, to any game that doesn't count in the standings.

The preseason is, for the most part, about the individual development of players, particularly rookies and free agents, since the starters - with the exception of the 3rd game - don't play much. Of course, the absolutely critical goal of both coaches and players alike is this: Nobody Important Gets Badly Hurt.

Unfortunately, the Ravens smoked that one when Dominique Foxworth blew out his ACL in non-contact, warm-up drill.

Anyway, here's what's been occupying this fan's mind since training camp opened:

Drama Queen

Has anybody figured out Ed Reed? In July he pronounced himself "35%" healed from his hip surgery, then quickly confounds everyone by announcing a demand for a new contract when there's no guarantee he will even see the field this year. Then, only days later, he argues that the Ravens disrespected him by failing to provide game film.

Huh?

Thankfully, Ed came to his senses and is now avoiding microphones. Reed's new media spokesperson, Ray Lewis, says that Ed is progressing well in his recovery. We might see him on the field this Fall, after all.

Bookends

I'm not worried about Reed or the safety position. I'm worried about the corners. I'm worried about likes of Braylon Edwards, Chad Ochenta y Cinco (if he won't spell 85 in Spanish correctly, I'll do it for him), and T.O. scorching our butts early in the schedule.

I'm worried about Tom Brady and Matt Ryan going to town on our secondary in midseason. Fabian Washington is back and Ladarius Webb is shortly to follow, but how much stock can one place in DBs that are coming off ACL injuries?

At a minimum, we'll see a September waiver-wire pick up. We have some additional assets at linebacker and running back that could become available, so I wouldn't be surprised if there's a trade for a solid CB.

Minds Games

If Ed Reed is a drama queen, Ravens offensive tackle Jared Gaither is unreadable. He was late signing his tender, and is reportedly unhappy with the move to right tackle. Well, I guess he is. There's a lot less money paid for guarding the right side than protecting Joe Flacco's blind side.

Now, suffering a small back tear, Jared's out for a couple of weeks. Somebody's playing games, and I think it's Gaither and his agent. He wants to play left tackle, get paid for it, or he wants out. That said, nobody can argue against the fact that the Ravens offensive line plays best when Gaither's is in the lineup. This situation bears close watching.

Ravens Looking for a New Media Nest

The Mid-Atlantic Sports Network will no longer be the "official cable network" for the Ravens. Everyone on both sides is saying nice things, but, as a long time Oriole skeptic, I can't help but see the fine hand of Peter Angelos in all this. He's been jealous of the Ravens since the day they moved to Baltimore.

Past history tells us that you never want Angelos to get directly involved with negotiations of any kind because he will inevitably screw things up to get his own way. One media outlet, far up the AM dial, said Peter the Great pulled the plug on the MASN deal, at least in part, because he didn't want to negotiate with "underlings" like Ravens President Dick Cass.

Whatever.

It's classic Angelos obstructionism and it's going to cost them dearly.

A Fan's Football Tweets (some more than 140 characters)

The Baltimore Orioles. There....now I'm done.
Mike Shanahan + John Elway = 2 Super Bowl Wins. Mike Shanahan - John Elway = 1 playoff win. Good luck with that, Deadskin fans.
Displeased with unflattering comments made about him by residents of Findlay, Ohio over his sexual assault accusations, Ben Roethlisberger changed his hometown to Corey Rawson in the Steelers publications. It's a town that it doesn't exist.
If Ben thinks Findlay's comments are unflattering, just wait until he hears chants like "She Said No!" when the Steelers play in towns other than Pittsburgh.

Looking through some of my past blogs

I found this post from last preseason. "Jim Zorn, a good man, is on the fast track to becoming a quarterbacks coach on another team, probably next year."

Even an idiot like me gets it right once in a while. Welcome aboard, Jim!

18 game regular season.

What Roger wants, Roger gets. Good for fans, bad for the players. I'm for it, but some things will have to change.

Tony Dungy said that, based on Rex Ryan's F-bomb laced commentary on HBO's Hard Knocks, that he would not hire Ryan as his football coach. Give me a break. On second thought, why don't we avoid the Christmas rush and start Dungy's canonization proceedings right now?

Non Football Tweet:

Good year to be a Spaniard: Pau Gasol, NBA Champion; Rafael Nadal, Wimbledon Champion, Alberto Contador, Tour de France Winner; Spain, World Cup Football (Brit word for Soccer) Champions.

Fran's Theatre of the Absurd

This edition of Fran's Theatre of the Absurd highlights the latest un-retirement of one Brett Lorenzo Favre. It's absurd that one player can manipulate the national sports media and a professional football club for his own means. Why does he do it? Because he can. Because he hates training camp. Because he craves the attention. Because he can't bear the thought of not being wanted.

Two weeks ago the 4 Letter Network was all over, and I mean ALL OVER, the breaking news that Favre was retiring. Absurd! Why? Because nobody in their right mind thought Favre was going to walk away from the game and the 13 million plus he was scheduled to earn this year. When the blessed event finally occurred on Tuesday, ESPN actually tracked him riding in a Gray SUV from the airport to Vikings headquarters. I could have sworn I was watching O.J. on a California freeway.

Can we strike this 5 letter word from our sports lexicon for a while?

Finally,

It's That Most Wonderful Time of the Year - Local Rivalry Edition

The Ravens and MASN may have burned their bridges, but, thankfully, the Ravens and the Redskins have not. Ever since Lil' Danny Snyder came to his fiduciary senses and figured out that it makes more sense (and more money) to schedule the Ravens in a preseason game rather than a scrimmage, this contest has become a welcome fixture (another Brit soccer word) to our preseason schedule.

For me it's great. I'm Baltimore born and bred, a former Colt, now Raven season ticket holder, and a serial Redskin hater. I live in Glen Burnie, but work in D.C. Yes......I work with a lot of Deadskin fans who've heard my smack, all day, all the time, all this week.

For me, this picture says it all.