All The Off-Season Moves Are Done, Now It's Time To Get The Season On The Way.

With the departure of key players such as the beloved Todd Heap. Others included Derrick Mason, Willis McGahee, Kelly Gregg, Dawn Landry and Le’Ron McClain. This brought a lot of questions from the critics and heartbreak to the fans.

The arrivals answered some of these questions and put hope back into the fans hearts.

The draft brought cornerback Jimmy Smith and wide receiver Torrey Smith, these two players are going to make an immediate impact.

After the lockout ended the Ravens signed veteran fullback Vonta Leach. Leach should help fill the spot left by McClain, the two fullbacks’ have two different styles and I think that Leach will fit well as a Raven.

The Ravens signed Bernard Pollard to replace Dawan Landry. Pollard ‘the angry man’ should fit well with the defense, as he is a hard hitting safety that plays hard every down. With the nickname angry man what do you expect?

The Ravens would trade for Lee Evans, who should be a step up to Mason in the regard to speed and stretching the field. Evans should provide a part to the offense, that the Ravens have so desperately needed.

The Ravens would also add some players that have showed talent during training camp and the preseason. So when the Ravens take the field you will see some new faces, there is no need to panic because they are here to compete and help the Ravens win some games.

The lockout has affected all of the Ravens players, but that has not stopped them from getting ready for the season. The Ravens showed a lot of effort and determination during traning camp. The preseason had a very good showing of promise with the young guys who took the field and also the veterans showed that they are ready to have a successful season.

The preseason is over and the 53-man roster is set, now it’s time for the Ravens to get geared up and play some football.

With the NFL season slated to start this upcoming Sunday, the Ravens are looking to finally dismantle the Pittsburgh Steelers and put an end to the non-believers.

The Ravens game plan is simple, tire out the Steelers defense. The way this can be accomplished is the Ravens have to convert more third downs and keep the offense on the field. The game plan should also help the defense as well. This will keep the defense fresh when the time comes for them to hit the field.

These two teams know each other very well, and they surely don’t like each other when it comes to what goes down on the field. So look for both teams to give all they got in this brutal battle of football gladiators.

The Ravens are coming into this game healthy and ready to fight for a win. The Steelers are a little banged up, but who isn’t in this game. They should be ok, as they surely are going to bring their A-game just like the Ravens. The past games will not have much effect on this game and the teams in it, as both the Ravens and Steelers are looking to Sunday and what that game has to offer. This game is surely going to offer a lot, as this is a division game that is going to showcase a lot of jolting hits.

This game is very important for the Ravens, as they have had struggles against the Steelers.  The Ravens want to look past their struggles, and get an edge in the division and get a step on the Steelers. This can be possible if the Ravens fight throughout the game and keep to their game plan.

It’s not going to be an easy task, as the Steelers are a tough team to have success against. Plain and simple the Ravens are not the only team that has fits against the Steelers, it happens throughout the league.

This game is going to have a lot of excitement. With the hard hits, trash talking, and straight smash mouth football. Both teams are going to be fighting for every yard and taking anything they can get. Whatever team that can keep the fight raging is going to come out of this victorious.

It’s enough of me talking, it is just time to sit back and get ready to watch a huge rivalry between two teams who have the weapons to make this a brutal battle in the AFC.

Season Preview:

The Ravens have a couple of tough games this season.

The games include opponents such as the New York Jets, the Pittsburgh Steelers, Indianapolis Colts, and the San Diego Chargers. The Jets and the Steelers games should be great when it comes to defensive oriented games. The Colts are still a risky team to play, even if Peyton Manning plays or not. The Chargers game should have some effect in the AFC, as both the Ravens and the Chargers are two teams that will probably make a run in the playoffs.  One other game that will be fun is the San Francisco 49ers game, as it puts the Harbaugh brothers against each other. It all comes down to which brother wants the bragging rights in the family.

Below is a link to the full schedule:

http://www.baltimoreravens.com/Gameday/Schedule.aspx

The Orioles Have Shown Resilience Throughout Their Recent Success

In the first game the Orioles would be beat bad on both sides of the ball, as they would lose 17-5. They would get their pride back in the next game, as they would get a pretty good start from Jeremy Guthrie and get some much needed offense. This would carry over to the finale, as the Orioles would get just enough off of Vlad Guerrero’s bat to seal a 2-1 win and a series win.

After a day off the Orioles would get back to work against the Kansas City Royals.

The Orioles in this game would have to battle from behind to get the win. They would accomplish this in the bottom of the 9th. The resilience of the Orioles would show up on the bat of Adam Jones, as he rocketed a walk-off home-run.

It would be a different story in the second game, as the Orioles offense would pour out 8 runs in the 4th inning. The Orioles would never look back and would win a one sided slugfest 9-2. This would set-up the stage for the finale.

In the finale the game would be back and forth at the beginning until the pitchers would get settled down. It would be tied and would have to be settled in extra innings. It was a fight throughout extra innings, as both teams would have chances to win. The Orioles would be on the winning side of this and would finish the sweep and extend their win streak to 5.

After having great success in their home stand, the Orioles look to extend their success on the road. On this road trip the Orioles look to extend their win streak and maybe get above the .500 mark.

The Baltimore Ravens First Round Selection...

The Baltimore Ravens came into this years draft like always, looking for a legit football player that can embody what it means to be a Raven.

The Ravens I think got a great player in Jimmy Smith. Smith has alot of talent, but has some issues off the field that just interfere with his great football skills. Smith got drafted by the best team in regards of getting his head right, the Ravens locker room is filt with veterans that will make sure that happens.

Smith should help the Ravens in all aspects on defense, as he will fill a spot that has been lacking the last couple of seasons. Smith is a great corner that is quick to the ball and can cover alot of ground.

If Smith can keep his head straight, than the Ravens will have a great player, but if he cant than who knows.

The upcoming season will only tell…

The Baltimore Ravens versus the Pittsburgh Steelers is going to be a hard hitting game

arch rival Pittsburgh Steelers.

In the two games they played in the regular season were only decided by three points. So look for this game to be close to the very end.

It’s going to be a brutal fight, as both teams are hard nosed smash mouth football teams and they just don’t like each other.

These type of games are built for the teams that play dominating defense and that can sustain a running game.

In this game it’s going to take a lot of will power and strength to come away with the win.

There is not going to be much scoring in this game, but their will be a lot of jaw wrenching hits.

Josh Wilson and Mike Wallace should have a great battle in this game

Both the Steelers and Ravens have proven that they can run the ball with great success. So look for Ray Rice and Rashard Mendenhall to try and take the game in their hands and run with it.

If the Ravens get their running game up and running, then look for Joe Flacco to get some great chances to pass it down field and complete it to the likes of Anquan Boldin, Derrick Mason, T.J. Houshmanzadeh (who caught the game winning touchdown in the first meeting at Pittsburgh early in the regular season) and not to mention Rice has great hands and can have a big impact in the passing game and on offense.

On the other hand if the Steelers get their running game going, then look for Ben Roethlisberger to be able to move in the pocket freely and that means that he will be able to complete passes to Hines Ward or complete them deep to speedy Mike Wallace.

Another aspect to look at on offense with both teams is tight end, this position should have a big impact on this game.

Todd Heap for the Ravens who had a great 108 yard reciveing game in the wild card round of the playoffs.

Heath Miller for the Steelers who is a big part of their offense, he is especially is the go to guy for Roethlisberger when he is under pressure.

Now let’s take a look at the defense for both teams which is going to be what the game consists of mainly.

The Ravens defense just came off a remarkable game where they forced 5 turnovers. They are going to try to keep the momentum going in this game and play some old fashion smash mouth football. They will also try and take the ball from Roethlisberger and company.

The Steelers didn’t play wildcard weekend, so their defense got some much needed rest. Everybody knows the greatness that lies on the defensive side of the Steelers. So they pretty much are going to try and do the same as the Ravens and that is force turnovers.

The whole home field advantage comes into play in this game, but the Ravens are the best team on the road in the playoffs. So this really shouldn’t affect how the Ravens perform in this game.

Now for the big question rest versus momentum. The Steelers got to rest, as the Ravens had to play last week.

The Ravens are going to be in game form, as they played last weekend and got a win in the wild card game against the Kansas City Chiefs. So look for the Ravens to be ready to battle.

Now the Steelers are going to be rested, but it will take them a little time to get into game mode and that should play out well for the Ravens.

Will power against will power and strength versus strength, which ever team gives in first will fall this Saturday.

Get ready for a fantastic game.

With the playoffs on the way, the Baltimore Ravens look to keep their success on the road in the playoffs rolling. With that it could

The Baltimore Ravens clash with the Kansas City Chiefs this upcoming Sunday.

give them a chance for a second Super Bowl victory in team history.

The Ravens need to stick to their old way’s by playing dominate defense and dishing out a large helping of Ray Rice. This should give them the needed help to win the first round and deep into the playoffs.

Look for Joe Flacco to have plenty of chance’s to pass down the field, especially if Rice gets going. Flacco is one of the best play-action fake quarterback’s in the NFL. If Flacco gets going it’s going to be trouble for the Kansas City Chiefs.

There are a lot of impact player’s starring in this “Wild-Card Showdown” this Sunday.

On the Ravens side, the defense showcase’s two of the most influential player’s that are  in the NFL Ray Lewis and Ed Reed who are definitely going to leave their impact on this game. With both of them playing on defense it makes the rest of the defense play at a unbelievable level.

The offense has two player’s that will show up in this game and that is Rice and Anquan Boldin. With the running talent of Rice and the tough catching ability of Boldin, it should be a great day for Flacco and the Ravens offense.

On the Chiefs side, the defense has a lot of talent with their two impact player’s rookie safety Eric Berry and veteran outside linebacker Mike Vrabel. Both of them should have a chance to stop the Ravens running attack and passing attack if not jump started.

The offense has two impact player’s that have to have a big day  in order for the chiefs to even have the thought of winning against the high powered Ravens and that is Matt Cassel and Dwayne Bowe. Not to mention that they have to get some sort of running game, to not be one dimensional in this game. This needs to happen or the Ravens are going to have a fun day this Sunday.

This should be an interesting game as the Chiefs have one of the best running attacks in the AFC and the Ravens are sporting one of the best defenses. The game will mostly likely come down to this aspect.

The Ravens defense may bend in this game, but surely not going to break. The Ravens can’t afford to get tired in the fourth quarter, where they are known for blowing leads this season.

With talent on both sides for the Chiefs and Ravens, it should be a close game and surely going to be a great one.

The Ravens should be able to come away with the victory if they stick to running the ball and letting Flacco show off his play-action skills.

But if none of this comes into play than look for the Chiefs to be celebrating a win against a great football team.

Well it’s enough of me writing, now it’s time to watch the game and see who can be the last team standing this Sunday afternoon.

The most anticipated game of the year in regards to the AFC North and the Charm City comes into play this upcoming Sunday.

The Baltimore Ravens face-off with the Pittsburgh Steelers for sole possession of first place in the AFC North.

The game is to take place under the lights in a prime time showdown. The teams that are going to showcase this is the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers. It should be a brutal game, as it always is when they face off.

This is going to be a injury plagued game, as both teams have injuries on both sides of the ball. The thought of this is going to change the outcome of the game for sure. Other than the injuries the Ravens are going to have a big advantage, as they will be playing home and have the fierce cheers of their beloved fans behind them. The cold should just give the game a bit of a winter felt fight.

The first match-up they had this year, does not even equal up to the hype and meaning of this one. The Ravens got the best of the Steelers in the first game with a dramatic finish, this will even better the hype of this game and make the battle for first in the AFC North that much more interesting.

There are going to be a couple of different aspects in the upcoming game, that did not show up in the previous game.

On the Ravens side, the ball hawking Ed Reed was not available. He did not have the chance to spread his wings and show his knack of getting his hands on the ball. With him back the Ravens should have two of the most dominating forces on the football field, with Ray Lewis patrolling the front of the defense and Reed controlling the back of the defense. With them two on the field, look to see hard hits and people flying to the ball.

On the Steelers side, Ben Roethlisberger was not playing. It’s hard not to say that Roethlisberger is not one tough son of a gun. He has unbelievable great movement in the pocket and that makes it hard for the opponents defense to get their hands on him and take him down. So look for a lot of broken plays to be fixed when he takes the field on offense.

With both teams offensive lines depleted look for both defenses to exploit that. Its going to be a lot of hits on both Joe Flacco and Roethlisberger, making this a take them down drag them out game.

One of the big keys to this game is to develop a running game, this will make it easier to pass the ball down field. Whichever team develops the best running game, should have a really good chance of coming away victorious.

Another big key to this game is the new found ability of the Ravens passing game. This should come in effect, as the Steelers secondary is ranked near the bottom of the AFC. With the thought of this, its going to be a must for the Ravens offensive line to protect Flacco.

On the other side the Steelers must find away to protect Roethlisberger or the Ravens defense is going to have a big day in the backfield of the Steelers.

With all this in question, its a matter of what team can answer them more correctly.

Ray Lewis Is The Prime Example Why The Ravens Defense Is So Great.

Anquan Boldin Proved That The Ravens Made The Right Choice By Getting Him.

After making a couple of key off season moves, the Ravens should have a better team on the field. An with the help of these players, there could be another championship brought to the charm city.

The main off season acquisitions came on the offensive side of the ball with Anquan Boldin, Donte’ Stallworth, and T.J. Houshmandzadeh adding some real talent and weapons for Joe Flacco and the rest of the Ravens offense.

It seems that finally the Ravens offense has caught up to the defense, which should make the Ravens a balanced and dangerous team in the NFL.

The new offensive weapons were on showcase Monday night, when the Ravens took on the New York Jets. Boldin had a 110 yards on 7 catches, which was a big part in the Ravens getting the win. Houshmandzadeh had 1 catch for 27 yards, and also helped the Ravens offense with a couple of pass interference calls on the Jets defense. Stallworth is on the disabled list, and should help complement the other two receivers that the Ravens picked up this off season.

Not to mention the outstanding play from tight end Todd Heap who had 6 catches for 72 yards, with a key diving catch for 35 yards to help the Ravens put the Jets away. We should be seeing a lot of this great play from the Ravens offense for the rest of the season.

Lets take a break from the revamped Ravens offense and talk about the Ravens defense that has been the corner stone for the Ravens success in the last couple of years. They showed on Monday night that they still have the power to be great, by just shutting down the other teams offense.

The Ravens defense is one of the leagues best defenses year in and year out, but this year the Ravens offense should be just like the defense and come out on top of the league when it comes to offense.

What the Ravens put on display Monday, is just a taste of whats to come for the Ravens in the upcoming season.

Getting rid of a manager is not going to automatically fix things for the troubles Baltimore Orioles.

As a franchise, firing your manager signals two things to your fan base:

1) This season marks the beginning of our quest to rebuild frantically in order to use it as an excuse for our inevitable suckdom.

2) Our team is now going to be less competitive than Jonah Hill in a triathlon so in order to keep you interested, Elliot Yamin or other reasonably famous people will possibly be signing stuff at the gate every Tuesday game from here on.

After 2 ½ seasons with the Baltimore Orioles, Dave Trembley was fired on June 4th after guiding the Orioles to a paltry .278 winning percentage through the club’s first 54 games.

Largely a victim of being in the wrong situation at the wrong time, Trembley never managed to win more than 68 games with the anemic Orioles, despite expectations each season that the Orioles would improve on the disappointment of the previous one.

Trembley’s dismissal actually came as little surprise to O’s fans as Trembley had recently come under fire for his mismanagement of the pitching staff,  lack of disciplinary tactics, and possibly for looking a little too much like William Shatner.

Now the Orioles are on a quest to find a way to somewhat compete in one of the toughest divisions in Major League Baseball history, as the American League East has produced a different World Series contender in 2009, 2008 and 2007.

At this point, digging the Orioles out of futility seems like an insurmountable task. But Baltimore fans are always hopeful owing to the formidable, young offense that the Orioles have that seemingly possesses all the talent in the world, but just can’t put it together consistently.

The Orioles have never been known as a team that has put up banner after banner for winning divisions and pennants, but they have a long history of talent and for being one of the more respected franchises in baseball.

Cal Ripken Jr., Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, and Jim Palmer are some of the names that typify Baltimore lore and stir in Orioles fans memories of competitiveness and a winning percentage higher than Joe Mauer’s batting average.

The Orioles of the 2000s, however, have been a far cry from a force to be reckoned with; especially competing against the Rays, Yankees and Red Sox on a regular basis.

There are many reasons for Baltimore’s lack of success over the last few seasons. To enumerate them would only add insult to the myriad of injuries that Orioles’ fans have undergone over the years but there are serious issues that should be addressed promptly if the O’s are ever going to undergo a revival.

Baltimore has not been fond of quality pitching for about the last ten years or so. The Orioles have not had a legitimate ace since Erik Bedard, and continue to either cough up leads or dig themselves holes early in ball games due to an increasingly inconsistent pitching staff.

Despite talent at the plate, the Orioles need to develop some form of consistency if they expect to even get their record back over .500 over the next few seasons. But if Orioles fans are patient, they could see signs soon.

Adam Jones and Matt Wieters are infinitely talented young players who will eventually harness their abilities for the Orioles to take advantage of it. Plus, drafting high is always a plus for baseball teams looking to upgrade. The Orioles just need some arms and some time to get things figured out.

Because if the Orioles could have learned anything from Dave Trembley is that they should live long – and eventually they might prosper.

The Ravens show off their drafting skills with a couple of great picks

The Ravens started the draft at a slow pace, but picked it up as the Draft went on.  They didn’t start adding to the team until the second day of the draft, but still seemed to make a change with the talent they drafted.

Sergio Kindle - the Ravens found a hard hitting linebacker, just like Ray Lewis. Kindle has a knack of finding the ball. He is a versatile athlete, as he can play linebacker and as easily switch to defensive end. Kindle fits the mold of a Raven, as he is a strong pass rushing blitzing aggressive player, who plays hard. This is just another example of Ozzie picking a great defensive player, that the Ravens are known for. Look for Sergio Kindle as the next big linebacker in Baltimore.

Terrence Cody – the Ravens found the next Haloti Ngata, both are tremendously big football players, and can surely stop the run. Cody should help the Ravens big time this season; it’s going to be a challenge for the opponent to get any progress in the running game. Cody is going to defiantly fit in with the Ravens, as he is a run stopping defensive minded football player.

Ed Dickson and Dennis Pitta – the big question is why did they draft two tight ends? The answer is that Todd Heap has been injury prone and having trouble staying healthy, even though he had a pretty good 2009 season. So both of these tight ends are the future of the Ravens and surely going to be trying to prove them self’s this season. Dickson is an excellent receiver that can gain a lot of yards after the catch. Pitta is also a great receiver that can make big plays in the middle of the field. All in all the Ravens have two great tight ends that should solidify the future of this position. Even though they drafted both Dickson and Pitta, they are looking for Dickson to be the successor to Heap.

David Reed – the Ravens drafted Reed to help out in the passing game as well as the return game. Reed brings a great desire to not give up, as he is the type of player that gets knocked out one play and comes back and makes a big impact on the next play. Reed is a tough, aggressive athlete that has some playmaking skills. Look for Reed to try and make a name for himself in the future, but he is going to be a student to the veteran receivers that are on the team this season.

Arthur Jones – he has a lot of injury problems, but the Ravens have faith he will still have an impact for them. Jones has a lot of talent; it’s just a matter of him staying healthy. So we will see if the Ravens made a good decision by drafting him.

Ramon Harewood – he is just another big hefty athlete that the Ravens picked up. Harewood should help a lot with blocking Joe Flacco. He is a big athlete that eats up a lot of space on the football field, but that should help out a lot. So look out for Harewood to make a big impact on the offensive line.

The Ravens had a great 2010 NFL draft, as they both helped make the defense and offense much better and should show once the season starts. So look for these players in the future of the Ravens.

Photo credit: Charlotte Mace

The Women’s Professional Soccer league (WPS) held the Los Angeles Sol Dispersal Draft with the eight remaining teams via conference call Thursday.

With the seventh pick, the Washington Freedom selected Notre Dame star, Brittany Bock.

“She’s versatile, she can play in multiple positions, and we’re looking forward to seeing her in camp and seeing exactly where she fits in and how she fits in,” said Freedom head coach Jim Gabarra.

Bock fit in nicely with the LA Sol last season, starting 17 of the team’s 18 games. She was part of a solid backline that marked the Sol as the league leader in defense, with a goals against average of 0.5.

Having the highest goals against average in the league last season with 1.6, the Freedom might just find a good spot for Bock. But with the ability to play up top and in the midfield, her versatility gives flexibility to the Freedom roster.

Bock’s standout performance with regular season champion Sol was enough to catch the eye of U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Pia Sundhage. She received her first full national team call-up in 2009.

In the second round of the draft, the Freedom selected Faith Ikidi. The Nigerian international played at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics, as well as the 2007 Women’s World Cup in China.

“She’s a very good central defender. She’s still under contract in Sweden, so it’s basically kind of a pick for the future. Possibly next season she comes in,” Gabarra explained.

“We’re in a situation where we’re bringing back a large number of our players, and to add another player, that’s under contract, or draft choice, makes more decisions for us. This just puts off the decision. There’s good value in that pick and we basically just relinquished the rights to Nilla Fischer, who’s under contract as well in Sweden, but actually for another year and a half, I believe. So she’s not an option to us like we thought she may be. So it makes sense to us to swap them up, so to speak.”

With the recent drafts and the Freedom tryouts coming up later this month, Gabarra sees a more challenging fight for a roster spot. “It’s gonna be difficult for players trying out, players that are drafted, players that were already under contract. It’s gonna be very competitive.”

“We try to make it a situation where the best eighteen get their roster spots and the next four best get the developmental spots. And it shouldn’t matter if you were drafted, or if you were undrafted, or if you tried out, or if you’re currently under contract. Our responsibility is to put the best product we can on the field.”

Preseason starts March 7th, as the team heads down to Florida the next day for training. The opening roster due date is March 31st, less than two weeks before the season opener on April 10th.