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MEDIA WATCHDOG: The Ray Lewis Show

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The Commentators:
Host: Ray Lewis
Co-host: Anita Marks
Guest: Corey Ivy
 
As a long time Ravens fan I often wondered why Ray Lewis never had a radio show since he loves to talk.  This year, with almost every starter on the team having his own show, Ray decided to finally add his voice to the mix. 
 
It was smart to have this show air on Monday nights because it will be fresh being early in the week and also be a nice lead in to Monday Night Football.
 
Co-host Anita Marks got the show rolling nicely by diving into a review of the Rams game and providing a list of Ravens defensive stats from the lop-sided victory. Lewis said that the Ravens defensive philosophy is to never let a team control the game by running the ball.  We’ve all heard this a hundred times before from Ray and to her credit Marks added the stats, though impressive, were racked up against a lesser opponent.
 
The best question of the night came during the first segment when Marks asked Lewis what was different for the defense over the last two games versus San Francisco and St. Louis.  The quick answer by Lewis was that when playing with the lead early in a game the defense can be more aggressive.  Let’s see what happens this week when they play Buffalo.
 
This first segment was flowing nicely until Marks compared Kyle Boller to the Energizer Bunny.  We all get what she is trying to say here, but aren’t there a million better ways to compliment a QB on his performance?  Then in her next sentence she said Willis McGahee scored his first TD as a Raven in the Rams game….um, no, it was McGahee’s first rushing score.  It’s a pet peeve of the MW when media people botch players’ stats.  All of the stats are easily available and reading them takes a whole two minutes in preparation for a show.
 
The second segment focused on the upcoming game at Buffalo and Marks made it clear she sees the contest as “Willis returns to Buffalo to face the Bills in a grudge match”.  She then asked Ray Lewis about the mindset of McGahee this week. I didn’t get this question for two reasons; 1. Ray Lewis has played his entire career for one team, and 2. He’s NOT Willis McGahee.  The segment ended nicely with several calls and I must compliment Lewis and Marks on their vibe with the listeners. 
 
Special guest Corey Ivy joined the show for the second hour and Marks asked about how he views his performance so far.  Ivy gave the expected answer of he’s “just doing his best to be the next man up”.  By this point the show had gotten into a nice groove of discussion between Lewis, Ivy and Marks while also weaving in callers.
 
 The one thing I kept thinking was why do defensive players rarely have an offensive player as a guest?  When I went to the Bart Scott show his guest was Kelly Gregg…and now Lewis’ guest is Corey Ivy. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems a little odd the offense usually gets left out on these shows. 
 
Late in the show there was a minor glitch with the headset for Gerome Sapp who showed up as a late surprise guest. Other than a brief impression of Willis McGahee’s mother by Marks, which made my teeth hurt by the way, the show was solid and one of the better two hours I have heard from Marks since she arrived in Baltimore 18 months ago.
 
Grade:  B-
 
How to see the Ravens score touchdowns – I’m almost sure the Ravens red zone woes will be fixed sometime this season, but until then if you want to see them score touchdowns do like I do and play Madden. 
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