THE SALARY CAP & THE RAVENS
TL,
Well done!!!!
In a world of inept sports talk personalities, TV boobs, and The Sun’s entire staff, this was a breath of fresh air. I don’t think Mike Preston has done that much research collectively for 6 years.
Mark, Hunt Valley
TL,
That was beautiful. Thank you very much.
Jack Disney
Mark & Jack,
The only credit that I deserve is for having the good sense to recognize Brian’s grasp of the salary cap, how it affects the Ravens and his thoughtful articulation of his understanding. I agree, it was OUTSTANDING! Perhaps the best piece to grace these pages. You won’t find anything like it anywhere else.
For those of you that missed it, here you go: How Might The Ravens Manage The 2007 Salary Cap?
Not to put the pressure on Brian, but with a debut like that, the follow up has some Shaq-sized shoes to fill! I’m sure he’ll handle it!
Cheers,
TL
WHAT’S THE FREQUENCY TL?
TL,
[Is 1300] streaming on the internet yet?
Bill, Northeast
Bill,
The long awaited streaming on AM 1300 is here. The hang up had to do with the syndicated programming from ESPN that they run – Mike & Mike and the Dan Patrick Show. ESPN doesn’t want those programs running on an internet feed. I’m told that AM 1300 will fill those spots with other local programming to be heard only on the internet. Those programs will continue to air on the radio.
If all goes as planned GAMETIME will be streaming for the first time on Friday.
Stream on,
TL
I’M BOARD!
TL,
I enjoy reading message boards although I seldom participate. When I have a little free time, I’ll bounce back and forth between the 24×7 board, Ravens Insiders (although I liked the old format better) and The Sun’s message board.
The other day I noticed that one of the Insiders’ members started a thread that linked to one of your articles. It disappeared. The next day, the same member linked a couple more of your articles and that too was taken down. It made me wonder if there might be some gamesmanship going on here between competitors.
Anyway, just wanted to say thanks to you and the 24×7 staff. You provide something for any level of Ravens’ fan.
Any thoughts on the draft? Will you guys provide coverage?
Thanks again,
Brian, Catonsville
Brian,
In my opinion there’s a need for all the message boards and the activity on the three you mentioned support that opinion. There are also a couple other boards around as well. One is called Ravens Talk and another Extreme Ravens. Each has its own personality.
As for the gamesmanship, I’m not sure. We don’t feel that way. Aaron Wilson contributes to 24×7 and Insiders, the difference being that Insiders requires you to pay a membership fee to read most of Aaron’s content while we subsidize our efforts through our valued sponsors and provide the content for free to our visitors. I’m not sure why Insiders took down those threads. We wouldn’t do that if the roles were reversed but then again, we’d be linking you to a site that charges a tariff for most articles.
Thoughts on the draft….well it’s always interesting when you sit at the bottom of a round to see what falls down to you. That’s the position the Ravens are in and I have no reason to believe that they will do anything differently than they’ve done in the past, which is stay true to their board. I know that they are focusing on the offensive line, inside linebacker and the running game. Where they address those needs in the draft remains to be seen.
We will have coverage here that is Ravens-centric and we’ll be covering it in detail on our radio program GAMETIME beginning February 9. On March 2 Eric DeCosta will join me in studio for the entire 2 hours and we’ll roll up our sleeves and really get into it. Feel free to have your questions ready. I know I’ll have mine.
To 2007 & Beyond,
TL
TIRED OF THE EXCUSES
TL,
I’m tired of Jamal’s excuses. Just admit that you aren’t the same back and stop trying to think that you can perform at 2003 levels again. Do you think Jamal will be back? What direction do you think the Ravens will go in with their glaring need at RB?
Jay, Severna Park
Jay,
I’m with you. Jamal is no longer the back that he once was but that doesn’t mean he can’t be serviceable. But the Ravens need more than serviceable and for him to accept a lesser role, I think he needs to do it elsewhere. I find the timing of this bone spur story to be interesting. I don’t see it influencing the Ravens to award him with a $5 million roster bonus on March 1.
Jamal was quoted as saying, "Regardless of the pain and agony, I played every game. Sometimes I couldn’t feel a thing in my ankle, but I did notice that the explosion came back." Really? I must have missed that part.
The Ravens will make the running game an offseason priority. I trust that they’ll do the right thing. In 2004, they had to fix the receiving corps. They did. Last year they needed to improve the offensive line. They started to. The improvement isn’t complete and I expect that they’ll finish the job this offseason. I believe the Ravens expect to improve the running game by improving the line and by fielding a back or two with more burst than Jamal. I know they are pretty high on P.J. Daniels and see him as another Chester Taylor type. I haven’t seen that at all but again, I’ll trust their judgment. I have heard that he’s been impressive in practice. But then so has Devard Darling. I do expect them to take a RB on day 1 of the draft.
It Keeps You Runnin’,
TL
