Last Minute Monday Night Updates

Some late breaking news on tonight's match-up in Pittsburgh, all of it bad for the Ravens:

1. Samari Rolle is out yet again with another recurrence of his "undisclosed illness." Rolle, who earned the nickname "Sorry Rolle" from some Ravens fans in 2006 due to his dismal play, has given us motivation to coin his 2007 moniker, "SARSi Rolle."

2. Chris McAlister will not play, as the severe knee sprain he suffered against St. Louis is not 100%.

3. Although he has practiced, Todd Heap is being called a "game-time decision," with a still sore hamstring.

4. The Ravens' most dangerous offensive weapon, K Matt Stover has evidently suffered a thigh bruise to his kicking leg, and did not practice Saturday night.

5. Finally, the latest weather report for tonight in Squealtown is mid-40's and rainy, with 15 mph winds. While conventional wisdom says the poor conditions could help neutralize the Steelers' big advantage in the passing game, we Ravens fans know that our purple and black, much like rapper Missy Elliott, "Can't Stand the Rain." Look no further than last year's losses in Denver and Cincinnati, if you need a reminder.

There you have it, a "Perfect Storm" of bad news for the Ravens. We won't back down from our previously predicted 20-17 win, but the Guru Crew certainly has their work cut out for them.

Kevin Millar the Red Sux Cheerleader

Another Traitor??



We don't even know what to say about this one. Should O's fans be upset that an Oriole fan favorite is making videos cheering on his old team, a hated division foe? On one hand, Millar was part of something special up there in '04 and it's nice to see a bit of loyalty (to something) from a professional athlete. But Millar is an Oriole NOW! Shouldn't he be more focused on improving the state of his current team rather than living vicariously through his former employer and teammates?

And what of the O's people who allowed this to happen? We assume the Boston PR department had to clear this kind of thing with the O's staff beforehand. Should we be angry with them for showing their ridiculous stupidity yet again?

Its no secret that Kevin Millar's heart is in Bean-town. However, it hurts those of us who root for him currently that he would be so blatant about it. If Millar makes this video for a 2010 Red Sux playoff run, after he is retired, then fine. But doing it now is in bad taste and a slap in the face to O's fans.

What do you think?

update: There is now a petition to trade Millar due to his antics, if any of you are interested:
http://www.petitiononline.com/Millar07/petition.html

ben-AD-ict Arnold

Say it ain't so, 96.

One of the Nest's all-time favorite Ravens, Adalius Thomas, is now taking shots at the organization that gave him his break and made it possible for him to sign that big money deal with the Patriots. In the latest issue of Sports Illustrated, AD had this to say:

"You've got to remember, I'm coming in from Baltimore," says Thomas. "People there wanted the limelight, people sought out the limelight, starting with the head coach. It was a star-studded system. Here it's about as different as you can get. Everybody here shies away from being the star guy. Nobody on this team beats his chest. They just all go about their business. And win."

Calling out his former friends, teammates, and head coach. Not what we would expect from the usually classy Thomas. While he probably would have received a warm M&T reception on December 3rd, AD can now expect a chorus of Boos to rain down on him from the B-More faithful. And that is just sad in our book. A player that we all grew to have the utmost respect for during his tenure here opens his big mouth (which now apparently is able to speak above a whisper again) and gives us reason to spew obscenities his way. We lost a lot of admiration for you as a person today, Adalius.

Looks like they don't just have cheaters up there in the Northeast, but traitors as well.

Update: C-Mac

Chris McAlister's torn PCL will not require surgery (at least at this time). The Ravens are understandably being very guarded about releasing too much information about his injury, not wanting to tip their hand to the Buffalo Bills, or any other teams on their schedule for the next month or so. ESPN is reporting that it is likely McAlister will miss 2-4 weeks.

"Major League Coach of the Year" joins O's as Pitching Coach

The Orioles have announced the signing of Rick Kranitz as pitching coach. Kranitz comes over from the Florida Marlins, where he spent the last 2 seasons. He was awarded the 2006 Baseball America award for Major League Coach of the Year for his work as the pitching coach of the fish, having led a rotation that included 4 rookies to a 4.22 ERA. This past season, though, the Marlins finished just one spot above the O's (who were 29th out of 30 teams) in total team ERA, at 4.94 to the O's 5.17. So it seems he is coming into a familiar situation - decent starters, crappy, crappy bullpen. The Nest wishes "Kranny" luck, although we really wish Dave Trembley would never, ever call him that again, for two reasons: First, it brings to mind the heavily ridiculed "Brownie," former head of FEMA, and second, it sounds just a bit too much like a character from the movie "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."

So no more "Kranny" talk, please. Oh yeah, and Rick, just stay out of Eric Bedard's way. Thanks.

C-Mac Injury

It seems one Raven came away with more than just one of the team's five interceptions on Sunday against the Rams. What Brian Billick originally described as a "tweaked" knee is turning out to be something far more serious for cornerback Chris McAlister. Apparently, C-Mac's knee has been swollen since the game, and Doctors have diagnosed him with an injury of the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL). The swelling is currently preventing a full evaluation of the injury, which may or may not require surgery. If surgery is indeed necessary, McAlister would basically be on the shelf for the rest of the season (8-10 weeks), while a best case scenario for non-surgical treatment would put him back in action in anywhere from 3-6 weeks, according to Drew Forrester over at wnst.net .

The Ravens secondary just played their first game since week 1 at full strength, and will now again be missing a pivotal cog. C-Mac's play has been less than stellar so far this season, as he has been beat on several long touchdowns (and almost one more on Sunday). However, he is still one of the absolute BEST cornerbacks in the NFL, and those Ravens fans who are critical of him may be about to see just how badly the purple and black D depends on him.

Lets keep our fingers crossed that surgery is not on the horizon for Chris.

Rock-a-bye-bye

After 2 years rocking in the Camden Yards dugout, the O's have fired Leo Mazzone as pitching coach. Mazzone joined the team to be able to hang out with his boyhood friend Sam Perlozzo, and was never able to work his Atlanta magic here in B-More. Maybe he should have been given the benefit of the doubt and more than 2 years to get the O's pitching staff straightened out. On the other hand, however, it may be a good sign that the O's are letting manager Dave Trembley pick his own coaches, something they have been reluctant to do in the managerial revolving door recently. What do you think, Nestgoers?

Ravens TV Notes

Several pieces on the Ravens will be airing on television this weekend. Right around noon on Sunday's ESPN NFL pre-game show, they will be airing a segment they filmed on the Ravens' road trip to San Francisco last week. Included will be many off-the-field aspects of the team that we as fans don't normally get to see.

Also, Saturday night at 8 pm, the NFL network will be showing a special program they did for the Ravens-49ers game. During the game, the network had microphones on 10 players and used 12 cameras to capture a much more in-depth version of the game than we saw last Sunday.

The Nest wonders how disappointed the networks were that they chose the Boredom Bowl to put all this money and effort into. Probably a good bit of cussing in both production meetings this week, but Hell, maybe they can actually make that game seem interesting? Now that would be some impressive work.

Be sure to check them out Ravens fans!

Mr. Reed (better than Ms.Polamalu - duh)

An article on ESPN today named "Five to Fear," 5 NFL players who force teams to alter their gameplans just by being on the field. A panel of 11 "experts" made up of GM's, players, scouts, and coaches came up with the list - Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Steve Smith, Randy Moss (crazy how much can change in a year), and Antonio Gates. While no Ravens made the list, the player coming closest was (surprise, surprise) Ed Reed.

From the article:

"Baltimore's Reed and Pittsburgh's Polamalu were the only safeties who came close to earning spots on the short list of scheme-changing players. Reed came closer than Polamalu.
Quarterbacks marvel at Reed's range and overall playmaking ability. An interception Reed made against San Francisco on Sunday left the 49ers in awe. Reed somehow picked off a short pass to the flanker after lining up in the middle of the field, as if he'd been in two places at once.
Polamalu moves around constantly and blitzes from various angles. He moves around so much that some offensive coordinators tell their quarterbacks not to worry about him too much. They would rather ignore Polamalu than let him bait them into guesswork.
In that sense, safeties can be wild cards to the extent that teams resist making significant changes to their plans for fear of outsmarting themselves.
"Polamalu is an issue in protection while Reed is a factor for the quarterback and where his throws are going," the defensive coordinator said. "He's supposed to be in the post, but he might be jumping a route on the other side of the field."
Two scouts believe even the greatest safeties are generally too far from the football on most plays to force significant changes to game plans. Quarterbacks disagreed, saying Reed could change what they do.
"Ed Reed is special," another GM said. "The guy at Pittsburgh [Polamalu] is really good, not overrated, but there are some holes in his game."

Well put, agrees the Nest. However, we also think they forgot to point out that teams need to account for Mr. Reed in punt blocking schemes as well. The fact that he has not blocked a punt in several years is a testament to teams scheming for his presence moreso than an indication of declining skill in this part of his game.

Read the whole article here:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=sando_mike&id=3056627&campaign=rss&source=NFLHeadlines

First Rat to desert a sunken ship....

Jim Duquette has resigned as VP of the Orioles. Duquette was instrumental in such earth-shattering signings as Corey Patterson and Danys Baez, while also having the savvy to trade John Maine away for Anna Benson (kind enough to bring her husband, Kris, at least for one season). The Nest fully expects more shake-ups to continue in the coming weeks from all sides: front office, coaching staff, and players.

Another promising note: According to Baltimore Sun blogger Roch Kubatko, an MLB scout he talks with has called the O's "ugly," and the worst team in baseball.

Baltimore Baseball: Catch the Fever!

FREE THE BIRDS 2 – Since this is an Orioles site as well, after all

The first post on the O’s here at the Nest is a call to action for fans. WNST-Sportstalk 1570 is having their 2nd annual “Free the Birds” night on Monday, September 24 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The O’s take on the Royals at 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased for as little as 9$.

The “Free the Birds” movement is the brainchild of WNST’s owner, “Nasty” Nestor Aparicio. Disgusted with the current state of the Orioles, as the majority of us are, from the treatment of fans by stadium ushers to the play on the field to the public relations department and all the way up to the upper echelons of management and especially, ownership, Nestor started this movement as a way for fans to voice their displeasure. Last year’s rally had an attendance of several thousand and was covered by many local and national media outlets. Those of us that were there spent the first 5 innings cheering as loud as we have in years for the players on the field, chanting “O-R-I-O-L-E-S” regularly, as well as going into several versions of calls for Mr. AngelosE to sell the team. We at the Nest especially enjoyed this one:

“HEY, HEY, HO, HO – GREEDY PETEY’S GOT TO GO”

At 5:08 pm, as was the plan (honoring two of the greatest Orioles – number 5 Brooks Robinson and number 8 Cal Ripken, Jr.), we all got up from our seats in the left field upper deck and marched down through the concourse of the stadium, all the way around the field, and out at the right field standing room only section. It was a great day, and those of you that were there know that the players appreciated our enthusiasm, as evidenced by Miguel Tejada pointing at us and clapping himself several times from his position at shortstop.

Unfortunately, little has changed in the year since that first rally. The team still STINKS, management still treats the fans like idiots, and the local establishments continue to suffer from lack of business brought on by dismal attendance numbers at the stadium. And so, after initially deciding not to do a 2nd rally this year, Nestor reconsidered. There are no planned walk-outs or anything of that nature this year (at least not yet), just a night at the park for the teams disgruntled fan base to once again show it’s disappointment in the embarrassment the organization has become. It has now been a solid decade of losing for the O’s, and we here at the Nest share Aparicio’s worry that indifference and apathy have replaced anger and resentment in the hearts of far to many fans. That is just unacceptable. If you agree, and share our sentiments that the fans of Baltimore baseball DESERVE better….join us.

Read more here:
http://www.wnst.net/
http://www.freethebirds.net/

B-More Tailgate Capital of US!

Fellow Baltimoreans, we have another distinction to hang our hats on. Baltimore has been named the best football tailgating city in the country! Not that it really qualifies as news to any of us that B-More knows how to party, but KVH Industries, along with DirecTV and “professional tailgaters” (where do I sign up for that?) placed Charm City atop the list of the 32 NFL cities based on factors such as stadium parking lot sizes and fees, sales of mobile satellite TV systems, and other criteria. For the record, Pissburgh finished tied for 18th. Losers.

Here is the link from Yahoo! Business: http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070910/nem043.html?.v=19

So what are some of your favorite foods to eat off the back of a truck on game day?