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What a difference a year makes!

Want to know the strangest part to the exciting drama that was the Raven’s season? My wife called it. From the first time she saw the line up of possible draft picks for the Ravens, she read the bios and picked out Joe Flacco and said, they should choose him. And she never wavered, despite his shaky start. She called it when no one else did. And I mean no one.

Last year, after a disappointing 5-11 season, most of Baltimore had come to expect this year would be a rebuilding year. The consensus of even the most optimistic die hard fans was that an 8-8 season would be amazing. And 3-13 wasn’t out of the question. Still, there was some optimism that the rookie quarterback could turn things around. Of course that rookie quarterback was – Troy Smith.

Continue Reading Vive la difference! (A view from the Raven’s Nest)

Do you believe?  Do you really believe?

The Arizona Cardinals are going to the Super Bowl. The old Kurt Warner magic is alive and well, as the crafty veteran helmed a game-winning fourth-quarter drive that almost assuredly will also pave his way to Canton.

My hat is off with the highest of kudos to the Philadelphia Eagles players. Despite their obvious extreme personal disappointment, all whom I saw congratulate Kurt Warner after the game did so with huge smiles (particularly Asante Samuel). Whether they did so with joy for the ever-likable Warner or for the long-suffering Cardinals franchise, I do not know, but such graciousness and warmth is to be commended.

Not to harp on something I’ve already discussed (since I did comment upon the Cardinals miracle run after their divisional round victory), but it’s been 61 years and 2 cities since the Cardinals franchise last won a title. In American professional sports, only the Chicago Cubs have a longer streak. The Cards are still one win a way from breaking that drought, but what matters right now is that they will have that chance.

Unbelievable!

Damn, I am the worst prognosticator since Michele Nostradamus’ relatively unknown cousin Murray Dunnosquatus. You remember he was the guy who predicted Canada would win the Civil War and a guy named Mussolini would invent Pizza Hut.

I picked the Eagles over the Giants based on my belief Eli Manning is the most overrated quarterback in the game. Give me Plaxico as a target and I’ll get him the ball. Eli’s arm is mediocre and he has the face of the spoiled kid who would pout if he didn’t get to play quarterback.

I thought the Panthers were the best team vying for the Lombardi Trophy, but the Cardinals stepped up and took the Carolina’s running game away. I kind of thought Warner was over the proverbial hill, but the guy can make a four progression read in 3 seconds.

Continue Reading NFL Playoff Picking

I love sports. Obviously–why else would I be writing for this site? But sometimes that love can make me feel really old, such as the first time it struck me that many of the players I’m watching now are actually younger than I am. As shocking as that realization was, I was able to move past the blow pretty quickly, since (fortunately) I can still consider a significant number of current athletes to be of my generation, albeit slightly younger.

No, that conclusion wasn’t too damaging. What does take some getting used to, however, is hearing that ballplayers I grew up following have been elected to the Hall of Fame. In this particular instance, it’s Boston Red Sox left-fielder Jim Rice’s well-deserved recognition forcing me to confront the fact that my youth is gone.

The Hall of Fame is any sport’s greatest honor. As an honor reserved for the all-time greats, a Hall has the aura of being the permanent home for the legends of the past. So when a player you grew up with “makes it in”, that means that player is now a legend from the past… and, well, your youth is the past.

Continue Reading Feeling Old

What teams are really that good? What teams are really that bad? How important is home field advantage? Is the bye-week a bigger negative than a positive? Everything you though about the NFL playoffs went to the birds this past weekend (meaning the Ravens, Cardinals and Eagles)!

The Good:

Baltimore Ravens: Live by big plays, die by big plays. Sooner or later takeaways will fail to bail Baltimore out, but once again the Ravens proved the adage that the team that wins the turnover battle wins the game.

Continue Reading Divisional Round Dish