News and Notes from a Fan’s Perspective
So What Now?
It’s good to be writing about football again. Like the old 70’s comedy, Welcome Back, Kotter, I’m happy to be back in my old stomping grounds – watching NFL Live, catching Ravens Insider in the Sun, listening to Jason La Canfora on the NFL Network, re-bookmarking TheRedZone.org, and reading Ravens24X7.com for daily updates on the Ravens. Labor stoppage, lockout, decertification, whatever you call it, I’m glad that the Long Break is finally over. Who won and who lost?
WINNERS
Ø The Owners: They wanted to “grow the game.” That’s owner-speak for “We make a lot of money. We want to make more.” With this contract, they made sure that they will.
Ø The Players: Forget that their share of the overall receipts dropped to 47-48%. They’ll more than make that up over the course of the 10 year contract. From a health and career-extending perspective, they were big winners. The dreaded two-a-days are gone, there’s a reduction in OTAs, plus other benefits.
So why did it take over 100 days to resolve this?
LOSERS
Ø 1st Round Draft Choices: No more multi-multi-million dollar paydays.
Ø Undrafted Free Agents: The amount of money that teams can give to UFAs is severely restricted.
Ø Ravens Fans, whose only chance to watch training camp practice occurred last Saturday at M&T Bank.
Ø The Quality of Football: Because of the extended lockout, the quality of play early in the season will probably be brutal.
THEY DID WHAT?
Yes, I’m happy football is back, but I’m not entirely happy with what the Ravens have done since the ink was dry on the new contract. I’ve spent the past few weeks watching and waiting to see how Ozzie and the gang address the needs for 2011. So what do they do for starters? They cut 4 veteran players, 3 of whom were fan favorites and first-team starters.
OK, I get the point……they had to cut some veterans with back-loaded contracts to get under the salary cap. To solidify the offensive line, the Ravens had to take some of the free-up cap money and resign Marshall Yanda. But they didn’t have enough money left over to re-sign two starters that Joe Flacco will sorely miss – Todd Heap and Derrick Mason? They surely had enough cap dollars to bring at least one of those guys back at a reduced salary, and both Heap and Mason said that they would be glad to come back.
Next they sign a free agent strong safety we really don’t need. How about throwing more money at someone who could have really helped us – like a Malcolm Floyd or another offensive lineman? I can’t believe that replacing Dawan Landry was that high on the Ravens need list this off season.
CAM’S JOB IS SECURE FOR NOW
Right now, we have no bona fide tight end and no sure-handed possession receiver. If you thought last year’s offense was vanilla, just wait until you see this year’s Pabulum. For those Ravens fans who’ve been screaming for Cam Cameron’s scalp, put your tomahawks away. We don’t have the offensive assets for you to get upset about when they’re underutilized. It will be Woody Hayes football – 3 yards and a cloud of dust.
How do you spell 8 in the box? That’s what most opponents’ defenses will be doing this year. They’ll just put 2 defenders on Anquan Boldin and wait for the run. The Ravens are putting a lot weight on the shoulders of the rookie wideouts, a second year tight end, and a retread receiver from Buffalo.
I hope Chuck Pagano’s defensive play calling and the defense’s play execution will be as good as advertised. The Ravens D will have to put their money where his mouth is.
SHOW ME THE MONEY
OK, where is Haloti Ngata’s new, long-term contract? I understand that teams couldn’t negotiate with players during the lockout, but the Ravens should have hit the ground running when the long break was over. Now we’re hearing that a long term deal with Ngata is “in the works.” It should have been done ASAP. He’s getting 12 million with his franchise tag, millions we could have used to pursue high profile free agents.
ON AN EVEN LIGHTER NOTE
In spite of my bile over the way the Ravens have handled the offseason/free agency, I can’t close without at least one head slap in Ben Roethlisberger’s direction. We all know that several Ravens tied knot over the long break. We’ve all seen the wedding pictures of Joe Flacco, Haruki Nakamura, and long snapper Morgan Cox on the web. Lost in the shuffle (at least in these parts) was the fact that our favorite serial college-bar stalker tied the knot in late July. As we wait for September 11 when we can greet him in person, Baltimore-style, here’s an irreverent take on what took place on Ben’s Big Day, courtesy of the web site The Onion……
· Roethlisberger reads his vows off his wristband
· Bride’s family gives witness statements to police outside the church
· All 500 guests are truly touched by the bride and groom and maid of honor’s first triple-kiss
· Speech from the maid of honor basically a last-ditch plea for rational thought
· First extramarital affair occurs two hours into the reception under table 17
· Best man speech bombs, as it is just a horrifying account of groom’s previous assaults
· An extremely awkward silence occurs when Steelers owner Dan Rooney insists there be at least one African-American woman in the crowd waiting to catch the bouquet
THIS WEEK
Preseason football opens this Thursday as the Ravens visit the City of Brotherly Love to play what football pundits have now termed “The Dream Team.” (a fan’s comment: can we play some real football first?). I’m anticipating 4 quarters of pretty ragged football. The good thing is that all 32 teams are in the same shape. For the benefit of everyone involved, here is what I hope is the final score:
Serious Injuries: Ravens 0, Eagles 0
At this point, anything else will be icing on the cake.
