The media only makes me want this lombardi even more

[leachisabeast]

Why do people need the media to validate their egos?

The media is just something that stirs up shit to make people look at it.

That's it.

No matter what team, player, whatever, there will be a group of media assigned to pick against them and criticize. That's the business model. They are not there to make you feel good.

Stop looking at the TV hoping they'll blow sunshine up your team's ass all day so you can feel good about yourself . Find another way.

Come here with people who actually know the team haha.

I think this board is probably as close as it gets to the FO in terms of knowing this team well and what would work or what wouldn't work. Of course that's apart from guys like Greg Cossell who are some of the best sports analysts in the world.

[Paintballguy]

Why do people need the media to validate their egos?

The media is just something that stirs up shit to make people look at it.

That's it.

No matter what team, player, whatever, there will be a group of media assigned to pick against them and criticize. That's the business model. They are not there to make you feel good.

Stop looking at the TV hoping they'll blow sunshine up your team's ass all day so you can feel good about yourself . Find another way.

Agreed. Media is based off ratings. They do whatever it takes to drum up interest so people tune in. IE, look at Skip Bayless. He says the most off the wall crazy shit to get people to watch his show. Dude is a professional troll.

[JAB1985]

Why do people need the media to validate their egos?

The media is just something that stirs up shit to make people look at it.

That's it.

No matter what team, player, whatever, there will be a group of media assigned to pick against them and criticize. That's the business model. They are not there to make you feel good.

Stop looking at the TV hoping they'll blow sunshine up your team's ass all day so you can feel good about yourself . Find another way.

normally id agree, which is why i dont put much stock in anything media related, but I was talking about one of the greatest players of all time retiring and not getting respect. Usually the media does cover those players in a positive light. When Favre retired i didnt hear about his dick pics instead of his legacy.

do i need it to validate my ego? no. Would i like the same respect to be shown to all players on their way out? yes. will that happen? probably not.

[Ravenswintitle]

sounds like the OP only watches ESPN.

[4G63]

You can bank on the fact that the NFL will do everything in their power, short of fixing it, to ensure Brady vs. Manning in the AFC Championship. Just beware. If we are playing in Denver and the game is close you are going to see some ticky tack penalties against the Ravens.

I've been telling friends all week the same thing. Manning-Brady is gold to the NFL and they'd do anything to make that happen. You'll see horrible calls like the Torrey Smith hold or crackback block called at the most inopportune time.

[GOTA]

Win the Super Bowl and you'll get that media praise.

The Pats sucked for 40 years. They were most known for getting embarrassed by the 85 Bears. The media didn't just decide to kiss their asses. They won the Super Bowl. And they did it again and again. That's when the media changed from making them out as doormats to darlings.

Respect had to be earned and this team hasn't yet earned it.

[Lime in the Coconut]

Honestly, I don't think any team has a leg up. If this team, and specifically, this offense plays well we can go toe to toe with anyone. The defense has been picking up too and that's without Ray, Pollard, and even Ellerbe. They always usually step up in the postseason as well. I don't worry about the D whatsoever and I don't think this team is scared. The Broncos or Pats definitely don't want to play us, I can tell you that. We have proven before that we can go to NE and beat Brady. Manning is due. I thought the D, besides Cary giving up that deep ball to Decker, held Manning in check. If the offense, which I understand is a big IF, can go on a run and play the way they did vs the Giants, we have a legit shot to go to the SB.

[IBleedPurple2127]

sounds like the OP only watches ESPN.

Far from it...you probably don't watch NFL Network, cause that's where Heath Evans works.

I actually just woke up to the "Ray Lewis close to signing with ESPN" news and not even 1 minute into my day I was pissed off.

[IBleedPurple2127]

Honestly, I don't think any team has a leg up. If this team, and specifically, this offense plays well we can go toe to toe with anyone. The defense has been picking up too and that's without Ray, Pollard, and even Ellerbe. They always usually step up in the postseason as well. I don't worry about the D whatsoever and I don't think this team is scared. The Broncos or Pats definitely don't want to play us, I can tell you that. We have proven before that we can go to NE and beat Brady. Manning is due. I thought the D, besides Cary giving up that deep ball to Decker, held Manning in check. If the offense, which I understand is a big IF, can go on a run and play the way they did vs the Giants, we have a legit shot to go to the SB.

I agree with you. Thats the thing that makes me feel a lot better. When we played against Denver, half of our defense wasn't playing and it was Caldwell's first game. And even with half the defense out, for the first half it was putting on a hell of an effort. If it wasn't for the fact the offense was off the field within 30 seconds of getting on it, I think we could have given Manning a HUGE headache.

[JohnBKistler]

Win the Super Bowl and you'll get that media praise.

The Pats sucked for 40 years. They were most known for getting embarrassed by the 85 Bears. The media didn't just decide to kiss their asses. They won the Super Bowl. And they did it again and again. That's when the media changed from making them out as doormats to darlings.

Respect had to be earned and this team hasn't yet earned it.

Exactly right. And it works in reverse, too. The Cowboys a decade or so ago could do no wrong...everyone picked them to win the Super Bowl ever single year. After a decade of failed expectations, they are more-or-less seen as a 2nd-tier franchise now. Nobody thinks they are serious contenders anymore.

[bacchys]

Exactly right. And it works in reverse, too. The Cowboys a decade or so ago could do no wrong...everyone picked them to win the Super Bowl ever single year. After a decade of failed expectations, they are more-or-less seen as a 2nd-tier franchise now. Nobody thinks they are serious contenders anymore.

Now, maybe. It's been quite a few years of will-Romo-turn-the-corner before they quit being a "sexy" pick for the NFCEast.

[steelerhater]

Exactly right. And it works in reverse, too. The Cowboys a decade or so ago could do no wrong...everyone picked them to win the Super Bowl ever single year. After a decade of failed expectations, they are more-or-less seen as a 2nd-tier franchise now. Nobody thinks they are serious contenders anymore.

I don't know. I think the Cowboys have been given way more respect from the media than they deserved. That team is a total train wreck, but every year we keep hearing about all their supposed talent and is this the year that they get to the super bowl. Jerry Jones has ruined a once great franchise, yet he's still considered by many to be a great owner.

[Lee Van Cleef]

Matt Williamson is such a douche nozzle.

I really hope the Ravens stick it to the Colts.

[lobachevsky]

The one positive thing about Ray's retirement announcement is that it provides a storyline for the Ravens that's every bit as compelling as anyone else's for the media to run with:

The greatest defensive player of this generation returns from a near-season-ending injury to rally his battered, stumbling team in the playoffs. Will it be enough to take them to New Orleans? Stay tuned!

[Ravenswintitle]

Listened to SiriusNFL / The Herd back and forth all morning and the Ravens are getting a ton of love. Pretty much everyone picks them to win and some say they'll win big.

[IBleedPurple2127]

Listened to SiriusNFL / The Herd back and forth all morning and the Ravens are getting a ton of love. Pretty much everyone picks them to win and some say they'll win big.

I'm not talking about this week. We obviously deserve to be the favorites for this one, and even the people in the media who hate us aren't that stupid to pick against us in this game.

But it's the people in the media who give us not even a slither of a chance past this round. If I was a fan of any other team, I probably would pick the Broncos as the favorites too...but with our history, Ray coming back, and how well this team plays when everything is clicking, you really can't count this team out.

[GOTA]

I'm not talking about this week. We obviously deserve to be the favorites for this one, and even the people in the media who hate us aren't that stupid to pick against us in this game.

But it's the people in the media who give us not even a slither of a chance past this round. If I was a fan of any other team, I probably would pick the Broncos as the favorites too...but with our history, Ray coming back, and how well this team plays when everything is clicking, you really can't count this team out.

Their job is to pick winners. It's not about a team being competitive or covering a spread. It's which team will win, Ravens or Broncos? Ravens or Patriots? Picking the Broncos or Patriots doesn't mean the Ravens have no chance. It means that they think the Broncos or Patriots at home will beat the Ravens even if it's triple overtime and by 1 point.

[Jsmoove]

As the saying goes, don't hold your breath.

Even if the Ravens win the Super Bowl--and IMHO they have as much chance of getting hot at the right time as anyone else in the dance--those fuckheads will never admit they were wrong. They'll cherry-pick a handful of plays & whine about how lucky our guys were. They'll moan about how lucky they were that this team or that team lost before they got to play them, because they surely would've kicked the shit out of them. They'll moan about how this or that media darling had an uncharacteristically terrible day against them. They'll whine that the Ravens played way over their heads to get Ray a ring in his last hurrah. Anything to avoid giving them any credit whatsoever.

Jeebus cripes, remember what happened in 2001? Baltimore came into the Super Bowl with all the screaming heads spewing hatred for Ray & Billick & Modell & sneering that the Giants (who had stomped a fairly decent Vikings team 41-0 in the NFCCG) would demolish the upstart Crows. And when the smoke cleared & the dust settled & the New Yorkers came within 1 lousy KOR from being the first team to be shut out in a Super Bowl, the response was--stunned silence. They acted like they'd just watched their grandma get mugged. Check out the SI coverage: "Baltimore Bullies." "Birds of prey." Whatever respect the Ravens got was you-don't-wanna-mess-with-these-thugs negative.

I'm with you in wanting to see the Ravens take the Lombardi, but I'm under no illusions that it'll get them any respect or apologies from the media mouths. It would be enough for me if Ray Lewis got up on the podium, grabbed the hardware, shook it in the media's collective face & told them to shove this up their collective ass as he walked away from the game. (Not that he would--#52 would say something polite like "We always believed in ourselves even when none of you did"--but a guy can always dream...)

this shit right here is inspiring.

[Tspot-D-Ravenator]

Heath Evans is a Raven Hater and a TOOL! I'm so sick of seeing this horse face pompous arse and his hating on Flacco and the Ravens. He still hasn't gotten over the Ravens not signing him years ago(at least that's what I was told). All this Raven hate only fuels our anger and I hope it fuels Ray Ray and the Ravens anger too! We be head hunting on Sunday

[Irish Raven]

Brian Baldinger is a decent analyst and goes with what he thinks, not constantly for the big market teams

Former offensive lineman with the injuries to prove it

I like him

And yes, Heath Evans is a tool