Wednesday December 11, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3762

fried about fried?

So, a few weeks ago on Saturday Night Live, in the aftermath of the Presidential election, Bill Burr quipped during a hilarious 8-minute monologue: "OK ladies, you're 0 and 2 against this guy."

I laughed at that one.

On Twitter yesterday, someone said the same thing about the Orioles and their off-season chase for starting pitching help: "Well, now we're 0-2 this off-season."

I didn't laugh so much yesterday.

The Twitter contributor was referring to Blake Snell, whom many believed might sign with the Orioles, and Max Fried, who joined the Yankees yesterday on a 8-year, $218 million deal.

For those keeping track at home, Snell signed a 5-year, $182 million contract with the Giants last month.

And then late last night, the news came out of Texas that Nathan Eovaldi was re-signing with the Rangers for 3 years and $75 million.

So, sure, the O's might be 0-for-3 now instead of 0-2. I have no idea if they wanted Snell or Fried, but I would hope they'd see value in either or both of those guys.

Eovaldi is OK. He's on the 15th hole of his career. $25 million for him seems a tad high, but paying $6.00 for a coffee product that has roughly 55 cents of actual "stuff" in it is also kind of crazy.

I know what you might be thinking: Don't we have Trevor Rogers?

Well, yes we do. And your point is?

And I know what else you're probably thinking: What happened to "lift-off" and "we're going to be very active in the market" and "this ownership group will spend the money necessary to compete" and all that other stuff?

I get it.

$182 million for Snell. $218 million for Fried. Sure, that's a lot of money to you and I. But neither of those figures are outlandish, out-of-this-world salaries in Major League Baseball.

So, yes, it's a little frustrating to see two quality pitchers not choose Baltimore. And that's presupposing the O's were interested in them, of course.

But here's the truth as it relates to Snell and Fried. They were both probably always going where they wound up going.

The Dodgers are the Dodgers and the Yankees are the Yankees.

And the Orioles are.......yes......still the Orioles.

There's not much else to say there. You're talking about two of the most prestigious teams in the sport, with gazillions of dollars to spend, with arguably the #1 (Ohtani) and #2 (Judge) most impactful players in the game today.

And no matter what we see, here in Baltimore, from 5,000 feet, the reality is the Orioles franchise is probably still giggled at by most Major League free agents.

A guy just trying to keep making good money might look at the Orioles and say, "Sure, why not?"

Someone like Max Fried might look at the O's and say, "Ummm, why?"

It's also fair to remember that a guy like Blake Snell once toiled with the Rays and saw, firsthand, what it's like to play for a team that doesn't spend money on baseball players.

His agent might have said, "You have the Dodgers interested and the Orioles interested. Both will sign you tomorrow for the money we're seeking."

And Snell, to that, would have remarked: "Which airport am I flying into for the press conference? LAX or John Wayne?"

Veteran pitcher Sean Manaea -- he's available, in case you didn't know -- might see the Birds as a team on the rise who could catch lightning in a bottle like Counting Crows did with August and Everything After and say, "That might be a fun place to hang out for a couple of years."

Snell sees the Dodgers for what they are: perennial World Series contenders

Fried sees the Yankees in the same way: a franchise that will always be in the hunt because their fans and the market demands it.

I said since last summer Fried was the one arm I wanted the O's to pursue. And maybe they did, for all I know.

But in the end, Fried did what nearly every smart baseball-businssman would do. He went where the money is and the winning is most likely going to be as well.

There's still the possibility of Corbin Burnes staying in Baltimore. I look at him like I look at the idea that Oasis is going to make it through their entire 2025 tour intact without one of the brothers quitting and not finishing the schedule.

Burnes is probably signing elsewhere just like one of the Gallaghers is probably quitting. But until it happens, you hold out hope that it might not.

And here's where I'll continue to cling to a sliver of hope that the O's might still somehow wind up with Burnes. He's not going to the Dodgers, Yankees or Rangers, all of whom have the money to throw $300 million at the former Cy Young winner. You have to also imagine the Mets are out of the running after giving $765 million to Juan Soto.

So, who then, is left? Boston? The Cubs? Maybe the Giants still? Toronto, perhaps? How about Atlanta now that they've officially lost Max Fried?

If Burnes does sign elsewere, the Birds are in a pinch.

The Garrett Crochet trade stories are still floating around, but based on what industry experts say the O's would have to give up to get him, you have to assume he's not coming to Baltimore.

At some point along the way, whether it's this off-season, during the summer of '25, or, perhaps, even next off-season, Mike Elias and David Rubenstein are going to have to do something that's borderline spectacular in order to convince the Baltimore baseball community they're not charlatans.

"Spectacular" wouldn't be Manaea. Spectacular would be Burnes. Or would have been Fried, perhaps.

"Spectacular" might be a deal for Crochet or Framber Valdez of the Astros, who is reportedly available this winter.

But the over-promise, under-deliver theme we've seen so far will only last so long until people start to get really agitated.

I'm an Elias guy. I've said that here a lot. But money talks and that other thing walks.

And so...here we are. Sean Manaea, you're the next man up.

Don't make it 0-for-4, please.

Tiger Woods made it official on Tuesday and for golf enthusiasts all over the country, Christmas came a little early.

Tiger will be teeing it up with his son, Charlie, in the annual PGA Tour "silly season" event -- now officially called the PNC Championship -- that permits parents to play in the 36-hole tournament with their child, step child or grand child.

The tournament is the weekend of December 21-22 in Orlando, Florida.

This will be the 5th time the dad and prodigy-son will play in the event, but as Charlie has grown and improved, Tiger has seen both his health and game decline.

After not playing last weekend in the Bahamas in the Hero World Challenge -- the event Tiger runs and "owns", for all intents and purposes -- Tiger was hesitant about obligating himself to the parent-child tournament.

"I'm just not sure I'll be able to do it," Tiger said last week. "If I'm physically capable of playing, that's one thing. But is my game sharp enough to play and help (Charlie) him out? That's what I have to figure out."

A week later, Tiger figured it out. He's playing.

No, it wouldn't count as an official win. And, yes, it's pretty much hit-and-giggle stuff for two days, where Tiger will be afforded the luxury of riding in a golf cart, as will all of the other parents/participants.

I still don't see Tiger playing any kind of "real" schedule on the PGA Tour in 2025. A tournament in California in February? Maybe one in Florida in March? Almost assuredly he'll play the Masters in April. And from there, who knows?

But just to have Tiger back out there in two weeks in the Parent-Child is awesome. That we get to see him compete with his son is even better.

What a nice early Christmas gift this is, huh?

I did want to address two comments on Tuesday that were a violation of our very-soft-posting-policies here and subsequently were removed from the site.

In no way at all was the content I posted about the situation involving Luigi Mangione and the Mangione family intended to "glorify" the alleged killer of the United HealthCare CEO.

I have no problem at all promoting the great work of the Mangione family for the 40-plus years that I've known members of that Baltimore family.

I think what Luigi Mangione (allegedly) did was heinous. I'm quite certain his immediate and extended family echo that sentiment. No one -- at least not me, for sure -- is in support of the murder of the insurance executive, no matter how disjointed or nefarious the health insurance world might be.

But I can and will separate what Luigi might be guilty of from the great work and civic endeavors that the Mangione family has been part of for the last four-plus decades.

Anyone posting commentary here about the incident in New York and or Luigi or the Mangione family needs to abide by our relatively-simple posting rules: No foul language and no racial, gender or ethnic slurs will be tolerated.

We are a website that proudly allows for open and varied opinions as long as they fit within our standards.

The two comments I removed yesterday were out of line. One of the commenters angrily posted a rebuttal and asked, "Who are you to censor us?"

I own the website. I procure the marketing partners you see here. It's my business. And when I see something I'm not proud of or willing to personally endorse here, I have the authority to remove it.

Not much gets removed here. So, when it does, you know you've crossed the line.

And, always, I make it a special point to thank those of you who come here and post within our modest boundaries. You are appreciated.

Tuesday December 10, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3761

heartbreaking

Like a lot of you, I suppose, I know several members of the Mangione family.

If you're in Baltimore and you've been involved in sports -- particularly soccer -- over the last 40 years, you almost assuredly ran into one of the family members along the way.

You might have played sports with one of them.

Might have gone to school with one of them.

Might have done work with them through one of their various Baltimore-based businesses.

I know several of the Mangione sons very well. Most of them were contemporaries of mine, age wise.

Yesterday's news that the alleged gunman of the United HealthCare CEO is Luigi Mangione is simply shocking. And heartbreaking.

Baltimore has a significant number of "royal families", if you will. Their names are all over town, on schools, hospitals, homeless shelters and other locations where philanthropy is needed to keep them afloat.

The Mangione family has been "royalty" in town for well over four decades.

They've been generous "givers" of their time, talent and treasure to a variety of civic endeavors and have employed hundreds of Baltimoreans through their golf courses, radio station, hotel and construction companies.

I've always known the Mangione family to be proud of their family heritage and equally proud to be contributors to the improvement of Baltimore and the state of Maryland.

They are, as we here in Baltimore are apt to say, "good people".

That they're now having to deal with this tragedy is so heartbreaking. One family, that of the health care CEO who was killed, have already had their lives turned upside down. And now the Mangione family has to deal with their own form of living hell.

There are, of course, a subset of stories associated with this incident. It's apparently about the health care industry. And the way corporations use time and the upper hand to wear down people who otherwise deserve to be treated with more dignity.

Luigi Mangione was reportedly frustrated with the insurance industry.

But murder and taking matters into your own hands is never the answer.

Anyone who is a parent of a child can only imagine the horror in the Mangione family today.

There's so much pain.

I'm praying for God to help ease the agony and mourning of everyone involved, both in the Thompson family and the Mangione family.

There continues to be a lot of internet angst about the Orioles and their lack of doing much so far in the Hot Stove campaign.

I don't get it.

They were never, ever getting Juan Soto. I mean, beyond zero called and said, "There's really no chance."

Would Blake Snell have been a nice addition to the staff? Sure. Maybe. But let's be honest. If the Dodgers call and the Orioles call, there's not much to think about.

The other big high profile signing thus far, Willy Adames, plays shortstop. Not sure if you know this, but.......the O's already have a pretty good shortstop.

Tyler O'Neill is a decent pick-up for the O's. He has what the team needs; power from the right hand side of the plate.

The ultimate verdict on his acquisition is a full season away, at least. It will almost assuredly center on his health and how many games he plays in 2025. If he makes two or three trips to the injured list, which admittedly has been his M.O., and only plays in 105 games or so, it's not a great move.

I like that Elias got out in front of Santander bolting for greener pastures. In the past, the Birds would have made some sort of token, slap-in-the-face offer to a guy like Santander. He would have laughed at it, then signed elsewhere a few days later for $25 million more than the O's waved in his direction.

About five weeks after that, the O's would have signed some half-a-washed-up veteran that they hope, privately, "can bounce back to the kind of player he was a couple of years ago."

Now, Elias knows Santander's not sticking around. So he goes out and gets O'Neill right away, perhaps even saving a few bucks by avoiding the leverage issue that comes with waiting around.

And if O'Neill stays healthy in '25 and winds up playing in 150 games, his 35 HR's will be more than enough for all of us to say, "That was a nice move by Elias last winter."

Gary Sanchez is a nothing-burger, really. He'll be around until Samuel Basallo is ready to be a Major Leaguer. And on the off chance the O's deal Basallo to the White Sox as part of a trade for Garrett Crochet, then Sanchez will get a season in Baltimore and not much more than that.

Do the O's need to do more this off-season? Well, sure, that would be nice. But as we've been saying here since the playoff loss to the Royals, there aren't really a whole lot of openings in Baltimore's roster.

It's Mountcastle and O'Hearn at first base unless Mounty gets packaged in a deal this winter.

Holliday is at second. Gunnar's at short. Westburg's at third.

It's Cowser (left), Mullins (center) and O'Neill (right) in the outfield, with either Kjerstad or Mayo serving as the fourth outfielder.

There's just not much to fill.

If Corbin Burnes signs on with another team, like we all assume he will, then, yes, the O's need another (quality) starting pitcher.

Nathan Eovaldi seems like the logical choice. If Elias doesn't want to give up 3 or 4 high prospects to shake Crochet loose from the White Sox, then a free agent veteran like Eovaldi makes sense.

The bullpen needs patched up. That's for sure. I'm still not 100% sure opening day will come and go without either Coulombe or Webb on the staff. At least one of them will be back with the O's by April.

But even then, there's still a need for more quality in the bullpen. Yes, Felix Bautista is back in 2025. And that's good. But at least two more reliable bullpen arms are needed.

So, you might be jacked up right now about what the O's have done (not a whole lot) or haven't done (not to be overly concerned with).

I think they knew they were going to lose the two guys they're presumably going to lose, Santander and Burnes, and now they're trying to figure out how to replace them. Santander has effectively been swapped for O'Neill.

O'Neill, when healthy, is Santander in disguise.

Sanchez for McCann isn't a great swap, in my opinion, but Sanchez is on a short leash. If he's a 60-game flop, he'll never see June 1st in Baltimore.

Let's see what happens with the pitching. Max Fried, as I've been saying for the better part of 7 months now, is the most natural fit of the free agents. Whether the O's want to play at the $500 per-hand poker table is the obvious issue. Let's see if they're going to play with the big boys for once.

But until the dust settles and the free agent list gets down to zero, I say we give Mike Elias the benefit of the doubt.

I think he's earned that over the last six years.

In some ways, I wish the Ravens were playing someone other than the Giants this weekend. Sure, they're gonna win and 9-5 is better than 8-5.

But if you're going to play someone coming off of your bye, wouldn't you want it to be a team that matters? Like the Steelers. Or the Texans.

Alas, the schedule is out and the game in New York is set for this Sunday. We can't change that.

So the Ravens will have to blow those guys out 36-13 and then get ready for that visit by the Steelers on Saturday the 21st. The AFC North will likely come down to that game.

The Steelers go to Philadelphia this Sunday. I'm chalking up an Eagles win in that one, but I also feel like one of those two teams is due for an unexpected toe stub. It could be the Eagles who falter. Who knows?

But if Pittsburgh loses to fall to 10-4, then the Ravens will go into the December 21st game at 9-5 and just one game behind.

If Baltimore wins that one to pull even, there's a 2-game sprint to the finish line that follows.

Pittsburgh will finish the season hosting Kansas City and Cincinnati.

The Ravens travel to Houston before finishing the campaign with a visit from Cleveland.

Pittsburgh has a huge game in Philadelphia this Sunday.

And then the marbles get rolled out and the Ravens might have the division on their racket on December 21st.

If nothing else, it's gonna be fun.

Monday December 9, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3760

monday q and a

Man, Maryland had 'em right where they wanted 'em yesterday in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Alas, Purdue was just a little better in the game's final ten minutes and the Terps dropped their first conference game of the season to the #8 team in the country.

The final was 83-78 in favor of the Boilermakers. It was a 4 point game with a half minute left in regulation. In other words, it went right down to the wire.

Derik Queen was once again a beast for Kevin Willard's team with 26 points, but it's fair to point out, as a number of keen basketball observers did on the internet, that the freshman's work on the defensive end of the court needs a little work. One national pundit said Queen looked "timid" in the second half.

He certainly isn't timid offensively, though. Queen is a complete terror when he wants to score. I saw someone on Twitter quip: "Derik Queen is what Diamond Stone thought he was going to be."

Spot on.

When's the last time Maryland had a guy like Queen? Yes, yes, I know he's probably only going to be around this season and that's it. But at least he's "our" guy and not someone we had to coax to come to town via the transfer portal.

Maryland will be the only college team Queen ever plays for, I think. Maybe I'm looking for an ultra-silver-lining, but there's something to be said for that.

So, yes, Maryland had a chance yesterday to make a major early-season statement. Instead, it turned into one of those "there's lots of good to take from this" losses where you don't quite do enough to pull off the upset, but you can see the promise in it all.

A lot of the pieces are still untested, including the head coach, but it certainly looks like there's quality up and down the Terps' roster.

We'll see what the future holds for Maryland. This, though, is looking like a team that should definitely be playing on the second weekend of March Madness if all the things we're seeing now continue to develop over the next three-plus months.

---

On to the mailbag we go. As always, if you have a question you'd like to see answered here at #DMD, send it along via e-mail (18inarow@gmail.com) or in the Comments section below.

Bruce asks -- "Given what you seen this season including up to today's games (yesterday's action, on 12/8), give me a reasonable but totally unexpected Super Bowl match-up."

DF says -- "Pittsburgh vs. Green Bay. I don't see any way possible Pittsburgh can string together three straight outstanding performances in January. One side of their ball will flatline in a playoff game. They'll either lose a game 33-30 or 16-13. But if Pickens is healthy in the playoffs and Wilson continues to play like he has...

Again, in no way am I saying I think Pittsburgh's going to the Super Bowl. But you asked for "reasonable but unexpected" and they would fit that profile for sure.

I think Green Bay has the makings of a team that wins two games and then goes into Detroit and nips them in the NFC title game. It's really hard to beat a good team three times, which the Lions would be called to do if they have to play Green Bay again in the playoffs."

Kyle Prosser -- "For your next Q & A, rank these 5 things in order of the most likely to happen first. Ravens go to the Super Bowl. Chiefs get best record but lose in AFC Divisional Round, Lions go to the Super Bowl, Josh Allen wins MVP, Harbaugh fired in Baltimore."

DF says -- "Of those you listed, Lions going to the Super Bowl is the most likely to happen. They're almost assured of playing at home throughout the post-season unless the Eagles catch them.

Josh Allen wins MVP is second. Especially if the Bills somehow finish as the #2 seed in the AFC.

Ravens make the Super Bowl is third. It certainly wouldn't be a shock to see Baltimore get there. They have all the tools and talents.

Chiefs get best record but lose in AFC Divisional round is 4th. The one team I bet K.C. doesn't want to play are the Chargers. But I still don't see them losing that first weekend (assuming they finish #1 and get the bye, of course).

And John Harbaugh getting fired is, by far, the least likely of those things to happen. The only plausible scenario I see is Baltimore hosting Pittsburgh in the Wild Card round and losing at home to the Steelers. That one might get Bisciotti's attention."

Mark Pallet asks -- "Are you in favor of the O's giving Burnes $300 million or more or trading a group of young players that might include Mayo or Kjerstad to the White Sox for Crochet, the lefty pitcher?"

DF says -- "If that's the circumstance and those are the only options I have, I'd rather give Burnes the money because I know, for sure, what I'm getting out of him for the next 3-5 years. Crochet is obviously far less costly, but also far more inexperienced and unproven.

I'm not really in favor of giving a pitcher $300 or $350 million. That said, I get it. That's the going rate for one of the top 10 pitchers in all of baseball. You either give him the $40 million or so a year the market demands or you let someone else give it to him.

Crochet has only been a big league starter for one season. And it was a good year, of course. And he pitched for the White Sox, remember. So, yes, he's cheap and still under control and all that stuff. But you're talking about one season of success vs. a perennial Cy Young contender in Burnes.

Here's my question: Why can't we have both of them?"

Brad asks -- "As we approach the end of 2024, what's your biggest sports surprise of the year?"

DF says -- "Hmmmm. This is a really good question. I have to think about that one a bit and go through all the sports.

You'd have to put the Ravens losing the AFC title game at home and only scoring 10 points in doing so as one of the top surprises for sure. I know that when nicks close to the bone, but it's true.

I think it was a pretty big shock that Rory McIlroy didn't win a major in golf in 2024. He obviously had a great chance at Pinehurst but his putter failed him on the back nine.

In a "good" way, it was nice surprise to see the O's get that kind of sophomore season from Gunnar Henderson. He was in the MVP discussion until the All Star break.

I can't believe I'm saying it, but I guess the biggest surprise of 2024 is that the Ravens were the best team in the AFC all season (granted, in 2023) and had the Super Bowl on their serve and couldn't get it done."

B.C. asks -- "What's your biggest hot take of the Capitals season so far?"

DF says -- "It's a two-part-hot-take: How well Chychrun and Thompson have played. They're not directly responsible for the team's great start, but those two have really helped keep things together. McMichael is obviously off to an awesome start as well. And they're getting some really nice, complimentary play from guys like Mangianpane, Protas and Dubois.

I was comfortable with Lindgren as one of the two goaltenders, but wasn't sure how Logan Thompson would fare. So far, he's been awesome. There's a lot of hockey left, but this team looks like a decent threat to make some noise next spring."

Tim Pines asks -- "You're put in charge of the NFL for one day and you can make any one rule change you want. What would you do?"

DF says -- "Gee, where do I start? I like the one foot in bounds rule, instead of two feet. Maybe that one?

I think throwing a 40 yard pass down the field and getting a pass interference call and the ball then gets put at the spot at the foul...is kind of dumb, too.

This new rule where you have to "announce" an onside kick and it can only happen in the 4th quarter? That's idiotic, too. We could change that one.

But for sure the dumbest rule in the NFL is when you fumble the ball and it goes out of bounds in the end zone (either sideline or endline), the defensive team gets the ball on their own 30 yard line. You can fumble the ball out of bounds on the sideline between the goal-lines and you don't lose the ball. Why should you lose the ball just because you fumbled it in the end zone and it went out of bounds?

So, there you go, that's the rule I'd change. If you fumble the ball in the end zone and it goes out of bounds, the defensive team doesn't get the ball. Want me to competely rewrite the rule? The team that fumbled the ball gets it on the 5 yard line.

Wait, can I change one more? If you're a wide receiver and you're involved in a pass play and you do the "throw the flag" gesture to beg for a call, you get penalized 10 yards, even if a flag was actually thrown on the play. That's the worst thing I see week after week. Receiver does the "throw the flag" gesture and gets the call. I can't stand it."

John L. asks -- "Look into your crystal ball for the 2025 PGA Tour season. Who is this year's Xander from 2024 who wins two majors out of nowhere?"

DF says -- "Well, Xander wasn't really "out of nowhere", but I know what you mean. He'd never won a major before, so for him to win two out of three was pretty shocking.

So, who could that be in 2025? I'll give you two guys. Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns. I think one of those guys is winning their first major in 2025 and it wouldn't completely stun me to see one of them win twice like "X" did last year.

Then again, I don't know how either of them are going to win a major when Scheffler might win all four."

Marty asks -- "Hey Drew, here's one for your reader Q&A column. Of all the NFL players who were labeled can't miss, what's the saddest story of the current players in the league? My friend and I were discussing this over the weekend and I told him I would reach out and ask you."

DF says -- "Really good question. Two names pop into my mind right away. I don't know that either of these were can't miss, but Trevor Lawrence certainly came into the NFL with super-high expectations.

Lawrence and Kirk Cousins are the first two names. Some of the other young quarterbacks (Fields, Young, Williams) need a chance to prove themselves still.

I thought Lawrence would really lift the Jaguars to new heights. It's not like he's been terrible. He's been good. But he reminds me of Carson Palmer. Great QB in college who simply might have landed with the wrong franchise in his first stop in the pros.

Cousins has made a lot of money, so it's not like he's going to be working at a convenience store in 20 years telling people "that used to be me" when they walk in on a Sunday afternoon and there's an NFL game on the TV in the store.

But at each of his stops, the same theme has played out. Cousins has been equal part great and shockingly mediocre. He came close in Minnesota to making a Super Bowl but it didn't happen. We'll see what happens in Atlanta but it doesn't look good at this point."

Carmen asks -- "OK, DF, I throw this at you every year. What's your official prediction for Tiger in 2025? How many tournaments will he play and how many does he win?"

DF says -- "I'm sorry to report I think it will be more of what we've seen. He'll play in the Genesis in L.A. in February. That will be his first start of the year. He'll go 73-75 and miss the cut. He'll then tee it up at the Masters. He shoots 75-73 there to miss the cut by two shots.

He won't play the PGA.

He'll play the U.S. Open and shoot 78 in the first round, then rebound with 73 in the secound round, but miss the cut.

The final major of the year will see him shoot 70-71 to make the cut on the number. He'll shoot 72-75 on the weekend to finish T57th.

Four majors entered, one cut made.

No other tournaments played. No wins. Still stuck on 82."

Sunday December 8, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3759

the hot stove is......warm?

Somewhere in Paris today, the great James Douglas Morrison turns 81 years old.

That is, if you believe the rumors. Not the ones from the 1980's and 1990's that said Morrison was still alive, but the one from last spring that said Morrison was discovered working in a small art shop in Paris.

Me? I don't buy it. I think he passed away on July 3, 1971 and is buried in Paris, where he died.

But if anyone could somehow fake their own death and manage to pull off a life of desolate secrecy, it's the G.O.A.T.

Morrison was the lead singer of the 1960's/1970's California-based rock bad, The Doors. He drew both acclaim and criticism for his eclectic style and sometimes raucous behavior. Somewhere in there, though, was also one of his era's great songwriters and one of the best "front men" in rock-n-roll history.

Happy Birthday, Jim, wherever you might be.

I'll celebrate today by listening to my favorite Doors album, front to back: Morrison Hotel.

The Orioles got their off-season improvement (?) quest off to a rousing start on Saturday with two signings; oft-injured outfielder Tyler O'Neill and veteran catcher Gary Sanchez.

Unless the tea leaves are being read completely wrong, those signings mean Anthony Santander and James McCann, both extremely valuable members of the '23 and '24 playoff teams, are now ex-Orioles.

O'Neill comes to the O's most recently from Boston, where he put together a very solid season in '24 with 31 home runs 113 games played.

I know what you're thinking: Didn't O'Neill hit 21 of those 31 homers against the O's?

No, he didn't. But it sure felt like he hit just about every game, at least, when the O's met up with the Red Sox last season.

O'Neill spent his first six seasons in St. Louis, where he had one really nice cammpaign ('21) when he collected 34 HR's and 80 RBI for the Cardinals. But he lost favor with the St. Louis front office because of his inability to stay off the injured list (just one full season out of six with the Cardinals) and he joined the Red Sox last year hoping to prove he could stay healthy.

He wasn't able to prove that.

But what he did prove, which is why Mike Elias took a chance on him, is that he's a valuable right handed bat if, in fact, he can stay healthy.

Most of his career has been spent in left field, but he did see 50 games of action in right field for Boston, where presumably he'll be stationed for the Orioles in '25.

O'Neill's signing also means there's probably only room for one more guy in the outfield. Is it going to be Heston Kjerstad or Coby Mayo?

The Birds got O'Neill for just over $16 million per-season. It will be interesting to see what Anthony Santander eventually gets when he signs with a new team. Once that news is public, we'll see what the baseball analysts say about swapping O'Neill for Santander.

Gary Sanchez used to be good a decade or so ago. Well, eight years ago, exactly, which is when he was 2nd in 2016 Rookie of the Year voting after 20 HR/42 RBI campaign with the Yankees.

He comes to Baltimore to take the spot previously occupied by James McCann. This will sound weird, I know, because a back-up catcher is a back-up catcher, but Sanchez will have some big shoes to fill in Baltimore. McCann was a player's player, both with the bat and the glove.

Sanchez's 2024 campaign in Milwaukee was mostly forgettable.

He played in a total of 89 games, about 70% of those as a designated hitter, and wasn't very good at the plate; .220/.307/.392.

His power numbers were OK; 11 home runs in what was almost a half-season of action.

None of his advanced offensive metrics were good. He did have a nice 2-game run in the '24 playoffs, with 2 hits in 7 at-bats. So he has that going for him.......which is nice.

McCann was a competent back-up catcher, nothing more, but he was pressed into additional duty last season because of whatever it was that was going on with the team's regular guy behind the plate, Adley Rutschman.

Whether Sanchez can handle 80 games of defensive duty is unknown. He last caught in more than 80 games all the way back in 2021.

At times like these when I see two guys leaving who were good and also useful clubhouse fits, Santander and McCann, and see two new question marks show up, O'Neill and Sanchez, I always think the same thing: Just trust Mike Elias.

I mean, if Elias didn't think O'Neill can play and stay healthy, he wouldn't have given him $49.5M for three years. Right?

Elias knows he can't have Rutschman catching 140 games. 100 is the more likely number, I'm guessing. So he figures Sanchez can do that job for 60'ish games. And with Samuel Basallo creeping up through the minor league system, maybe Sanchez gets 40-50 games to prove his worth and if he can't do it, Basallo joins the team around Memorial Day.

I don't know. I'd rather have Santander and McCann, personally. But those two are going to cost a lot more money than will O'Neill and McCann.

And money doesn't grow on trees, you know?

It's not like we have a billionaire owner.

	NOTES & COMMENT George McDowell
George McDowell is #DMD's foreign correspondent. His international reports are filed from a hardened outpost just across the U.S. / North Carolina border. He writes on sports topics that interest him that he feels might also interest some segment of the wildly esoteric #DMD readership. George has been a big fan of DF and his various enterprises since the last century, and for several seasons appeared as a weekly guest on his Monday evening radio show, Maryland Golf Live, delivering commentary as The Eccentric Starter. George also donates his time and talents to the less fortunate, and currently volunteers as secretary of the Rickie Fowler Fan Club.

the making of mt. pleasant park, part ii

Gus Hook read books on grasses and soils. He joined the Middle Atlantic Greenkeepers Association and attended its meetings. He consulted golf-course superintendents all over the area, and relied heavily on the particular expertise of Bob Scott of the Baltimore Country Club. Ned Hanlon assigned engineer Charles B. Wolf to assist Hook with technical work.

Construction resumed under Hook’s supervision in the fall of 1932. The stock market crash of 1929 had plunged the country and most of the Western world into the Great Depression and social chaos. The ability to pay for manufactured goods, and thus the demand, dropped 85% in a period of weeks, leading to a series of layoffs that put more than half of the world’s workforce out of jobs.

In the United States, President Hoover was voted out of office, and Roosevelt assumed executive control of a country near anarchy. World War I veterans, feeling ignored and unappreciated after risking their lives a decade earlier, organized and marched in a show of menace on the nation’s capitol. The Communist Party of America enjoyed a huge increase in membership. Fortunately for the collective soul of mankind, Roosevelt was a better man than his soon-to-be adversary in Europe, Adolf Hitler. Both men well understood the significance of idle hands. Hitler put them to work in his own vile service. Roosevelt created work that, although menial, required neither suppression of conscience nor abandonment of reason.

Germany

America

Congress created the Federal Emergency Relief Administration in early 1933. Pursuant to the authority granted by this statute, Roosevelt created through executive orders a series of programs designed to provide jobs for millions of unemployed workers. These programs included the Works Progress Administration, Civil Works Administration, Civilian Conservation Corps, Work Project Administration, and other similar initiatives. The act appropriated $500 million from the federal treasury for distribution to the states, to be used for reforestation, road construction, soil erosion and flood control, and development of national, state and local parks.

Hook and Hanlon negotiated a grant under a combination of these programs by which the manual labor costs of finishing the course would be borne by the federal government. The contract specified that tools no larger than picks, shovels, and wheelbarrows could be used on the job, to ensure that the maximum number of men would be needed to do the work. During construction, as many as seven hundred men per day were employed.

On a crowded public golf course, it is necessary to get the golfers away fast; a short hole has a tendency to clog things up on the tee. [The necessity of having golfers play away with alacrity off the first tees at public courses requires that only the most intelligent, forceful, efficient and diplomatic persons be employed as Starters.] The first hole had been laid out by Winton to measure 460 yards, and played as a par-five. Hook built it this way. [In 1936 the Park Board voted to make it a more difficult hole by increasing its length by moving the tee back. A 1937 newspaper article lists the hole at 530 yards. In 1975, a course map gives its yardage at 604. The 2003 scorecard makes it 565 yards.]

The second, likewise, should be a good, long hole that continues to give the golfers a chance to spread themselves thin. Hook again followed Winton’s design. The second hole’s tee box was originally placed to the west of the first green. The construction of Northern Parkway [This road was built sometime after the 1958 Eastern Open was contested. A plate attached to the bridge over it reads "1961."] forced the tee to be relocated to the present [2004] position north of the road. The hole designed by Winton and built by Hook played as a 442-yard, straightaway par-four, and is now a 347-yard dogleg right. A 1939 map of the course shows a bridle path meandering through the course. The path runs from behind the second tee in a more-or-less straight line past [and north of] the first green, passing south of the eighth green, then down the hill to pass south then east of the sixth green, and off into the woods by Herring Run.

Winton’s design for the third hole called for a par-three on what is now the seventh hole. Hook scrapped that plan, and cut the third hole through the woods along the northern boundary of the property, taking out 250 trees and piping a stream under the fairway to achieve the layout he wanted.

#3 fairway and bunkers protecting green.

The fourth and fifth holes fell into place naturally for Hook, but No. 6 required some thought. He felt it was time for a par-three hole, but the stream that flowed through the area was not wide enough to constitute a good hazard. Hook modeled this hole after the seventeenth hole at [the 1932] Hillendale Country Club. He built a series of stone dams, creating three ponds that would catch tee shots short of the four bunkers guarding the green.

The sixth green also presented a problem. The land allowed a maximum length for the hole of 130 yards, with golfers hitting down over the ponds from the highly elevated tee. A shot hitting the green will rip out a chunk of turf. If the green is made too large, so as to spread out the damage, it would be too easy to hit with a tee shot. If the green is made too small, the shots that hit it will quickly tear it up. Hook conceived the idea of a heart-shaped green, with two distinct sides. This configuration would allow the alternation of hole locations, with one side being used for a while, then allowed to recover while the other was used. When both sides became worn, the hole could be cut in the center portion of the green. Hook made the green area huge, 14,000 square feet, so that either half of it would provide a reasonable target from a tee no more than 130 yards away.

Facing north across the sixth hole and #7 tees.

The northernmost pond on No. 6 also served as a hazard for (very) poor tee shots from No. 7. The dogleg eighth presented no problems for Hook. Thomas Winton’s design for No. 9 was retained. It appears that Mr. Hook chose to respect the safety of those who used the bridle path that traversed the course. [On the other hand, the riders may have acquired a Prescriptive Easement to the bridle path under the Doctrine of Adverse Possession, defined as the legal right to use the land without interfence by the record titleholder if gained by exclusive, hostile, open, notorious, continuous and uninterrupted use for twenty years.] No part of the course fell within an area bounded by lines connecting edges of these successive points; second tee, eighth green, sixth green, eleventh tee, tenth green, first green, and back to the second tee, and it is within this area that the path crossed the golf course. Shots [in play] were never required over the path. Maps show that this is by far the largest contiguous area that was not used in the layout of the course on the property.

Hook wanted the tenth to be a long par-five, in the event a crossover start was used, and for this hole he used the eleventh hole at Sherwood Forest Country Club as a model. In building this hole, he found it again necessary to pipe a stream under the fairway.

There was only a narrow strip of land usable for the eleventh and twelfth holes, bounded on the east by Herring Run. Hook made No. 11 a par-three and the twelfth a par-four. He overcame the narrowness of the strip by having the golfers hit out toward the green on No. 11, and into a severely sloping fairway on No. 12. The fifth hole at Rolling Road Golf Club was Hook’s model for No. 12.

A natural dogleg, the thirteenth hole was laid out along the lay of the land, and required minimal moving of earth.

In 1932, the fifteenth green was located near the current [2004/2024] tees of the fourteenth hole. Prior to the beginning of construction, Herring Run and Chinquapin Run came together at that spot. Hook built bulkheads and moved massive amounts of earth for fill (as per the contract that allowed tools no bigger than picks, shovels and wheelbarrows), forcing Chinquapin Run’s flow from an easterly direction to a southeasterly direction and Herring Run’s direction a distance to the east, and causing the two streams to meet at a point about 75 yards south and 50 yards east of the natural confluence. After holing out, golfers then walked between the thirteenth green and the fourteenth tee to the tee box of No. 16.

Hook found the fourteenth almost impossible under the original conditions. A two-and-a-half acre parcel [reported in one place as one-and-a-half acres] of land jutting into the course boundaries forced a par-four there with much too long a walk from the thirteenth green to the fourteenth tee. A Baltimore Sun article of June 10, 1934, gives that distance as 150 yards, and reports that golfers named the walk after the owner. This property was eventually purchased from Dr. Henry B. Jacobs. A 1934 scorecard indicates No. 14 was then a 483-yard par-five. A map on the reverse of the 1957 Eastern Invitation Open pairing sheets depicts the course layout. That year, the hole played as a 525-yard, dogleg-left, par-five, indicating that the purchase of Dr. Jacobs’s land, and the subsequent lengthening of the hole, took place between those years.

The 1932 fifteenth hole was a dogleg-right par-four measuring 447 yards, modeled after the design of the tenth hole at Five Farms. The fifteenth tee appears to have been approximately 30 yards east of where the fourteenth green was then located. Stuart B. McIver, in a Baltimore Sun article of September 15, 1952, describes the hole:

"The fifteenth, which starts just north of Woodbourne avenue, in Hamilton, is a scenic hole, some consolation for the golfer who goes for that sort of thing. Chinquapin Run splashes across the fairway in front of the green, while Herring Run flows down the east side, paralleling the fairway, ever ready to dampen a slice that strays its way. Trees grow in abundance near the confluence of the two streams, further complicating the picture for the golfer. A well-placed tee shot down the left side of the fairway is necessary, while a wood or long iron, straight and strong, is needed for the second shot. If the golfer tops or falls short, Chinquapin Run will claim him. If he hooks, the trees will get him. If he slices, he can expect either trees or Herring Run. The fifteenth is a lulu."

When Perring Parkway was built, a big chunk of course property was taken, forcing a redesign of the 14th and 15th holes. The fourteenth hole, originally laid out west of No. 15, was made to play as a par-four, east of No. 15. The fourteenth hole originally played north-to-south, and now plays south-to-north, and the fifteenth hole plays south-to-north. Gus Hook designed the remake of the holes.

1953

"Mount Pleasant is the finest public course I've ever seen or played on," said Lloyd Mangrum after winning the inaugural Eastern Open in 1950, "and 14 and 15 are the finest back-to-back holes on any course."
The 13th green can be seen at the top of the photo. From there, golfers walked to the 14th tee, barely discernible left of (the 1953) #15 green, and approximately where #15 green is in 2013. Note how far east (right) the 14th green lies from the row houses to the left, and also how far south of the last house in the straight row it is. The intersection in the bottom left of this photo is that of Woodbourne Avenue and Belvedere Avenue. Woodbourne Avenue is parallel to the bottom of the photo. Woodbourne Avenue was torn up when Perring Parkway was built, and in the photo to the right, is shown split into an exit from and entrance to Perring Parkway, and forming a triangle with Perring Parkway. It appears to me that the 14th green lay in 1953, at least partly, within where the roads form a triangle in 2013.

2012

The road east (right) of Perring Parkway and paralleling it is Pioneer Drive. It appears that the 1950 #15 tee was just west of Pioneer Drive (and the trees on either bank of Herring Run) and just north of the old Woodbourne Avenue. If you look carefully at this photo, you'll see a house just on the other side of Perring Parkway and north of the triangle. I believe that this house was moved to its present place, and that it is the house pictured just above the intersection in the lower left corner of the photo to the left. The (1950) 15th green can be seen in the left photo where the 14th tee is located in 2013. The sadly ironic twist to these events is that Baltimore City was experiencing a rapid and ruinous population decline in the early 1960s, and in response to it, chose to deface its landmark golf course in order to build a road that allowed suburbanites to get downtown to work quickly in the morning and still get out of the city after work before the sun went down.

Hook described the sixteenth hole as “the most natural hole on the course. We didn’t even have to plow up the fairway.”

17th hole. Note how even young trees enhance the beauty of the course.

In building No. 17, Hook had to dismantle a water main and supporting trestle he himself had built when he worked for the Bureau of Water Supply. The pipe was re-laid deep underground. The approach and green were carved from the steep hill that sloped down from the mansion. A 1932 photograph of the hole shows a gentler slope left of the green, and no bunkers. It appears that the bunkers were added sometime after the original construction. A 1939 course map shows the bunkers had not yet been added.

This photo's hard to date. There's no cart path on #18, no stairway up to #17 green, and the cart path straight down the hill from #17 tee appears intact. The trees between the cart barn and roadway are young. The Starter Shack also appears in a different place.

The last hole was designed, in the confines of the remaining land, as an uphill dogleg left measuring 346 yards. The hole offers the option to cut the dogleg and fire directly at the green by carrying the last 40 yards over an out-of-bounds area having several tall [and growing] trees. Hook’s design required a carry of 243 yards. In 1998, Rick Hudak cut a new tee box out of the hill behind the original tee, and that tee increased the required carry by 30 yards.

When completed in 1934, the course featured 57 bunkers, 32 on the front and 29 on the back nine, almost all of them protecting the greens. Par was 72. Total distance was 6,753 yards from the back tees.

Hook’s greens, except the sixth, averaged 9,000 square feet in area. For a public course in 1934, these were quite large. The greens at Clifton Park Golf Course, for example, averaged 4,500 square feet. For purposes of comparison, if the greens were assumed to be perfect circles, the distance from the center to any point on the edge of a 4,500 square-foot green would be 39 feet, and 54 feet on a 9,000 square-foot green, and the green depths would be 26 yards and 36 yards, respectively.

All the greens were piped for water, but not the fairways or tees. Hook also spaced six water fountains around the course for the refreshment of golfers, caddies, and spectators.

Saturday December 7, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3758

going for a ride

When do you get your best ideas?

And how do you get them?

Is it spring that sparks your eternal hope? That first feel of real warmth, sometime maybe in mid-to-late-April, where your brain also comes to life?

Are you in need of a warm summer day and a lounge chair, with your favorite beverage close at hand for, you know, "thinking" assistance?

Does a crisp, cool, fall day inspire you? Jacket tucked under your arm as you walk through a park or other desolate area, looking for a place to sit and ponder?

Or are you one of those who appreciates the stillness of winter? In these parts, or anyplace where it gets cold for a few months, the winter is an opportune time to reflect and consider what you might do when energy is more readily available.

I don't know if I fit any of those descriptions above in particular. One of the greatest things about Maryland, I've always thought, is the dramatic and obvious change of seasons we go through here in The Land of Pleasant Living.

I like them all. And for me, at least, they all do something different to me.

When it's 36 degrees and windy on a less-than-seasonable Thursday in early December, even the heartiest of golfers have left the clubs in their garage.

Mount Pleasant Golf Course was almost entirely empty two days ago when I rolled into the parking lot just after 1 pm.

There were enough cars there it seemed logical that at least a handful of brave souls were out on the course. What would motivate them to do that is beyond me, but then again, there was a December day circa 1998 when my buddy Greg Ruark and I walked 27 holes in 17 degree temperatures on a Saturday afternoon.

So, yes, people play golf in frigid conditions just because they feel like playing golf that day.

I was there on Thursday for a reason, but I wasn't sure what that was, exactly. The Q & A with Greg Trehane I published this week stirred up a lot of memories for me, as did a midweek phone call with George, as we spent 40 minutes laughing and recalling good days gone by.

The fresh smack of winter here in Baltimore this week also stirred something in me as well. I had a few hours to kill on Thursday afternoon and it was almost as if my car pulled me in the direction of Mount Pleasant. I didn't wake up on Thursday planning a drive over to Northern Parkway and Hillen Road. But that's where I ended up.

A lone golf cart sat by the cart barn as I slipped out of my car and pulled a winter hat down over my ears.

"This isn't the first time I'll snag a cart without reporting in to the pro shop", I thought to myself as I eyed the key in the ignition and prepared to get in and jet off for a quick whirl around the course.

And off I went.

I wasn't sure where I was going, or why, even, but I wanted to take a look at the old lady in her December glory. No golfers to wait for, no concerns about an errant ball pinging me in the back of the head. I was pretty much able to go where I wanted and do whatever it was I going to do.

I rode on the cart part that borders the 9th and 10th holes, heading in the direction of #9 tee.

In the old days -- I'm talking the mid 1990's, now -- the 9th hole was a bear. It played 445 yards and the tee ball required both length and precision to get it to the top of the hill, where you would be very fortunate to be at the sprinkler head in the middle of the fairway that read "207".

How do I know it says "207" on that particular sprinkler head? Because Greg (Ruark) and I painted those yardages on them way back in the day.

Here's a fun fact. I've eagled every par 4 at Mount Pleasant (all with second shots going in the hole, none were drives-and-putts) except for #9. That I've made a "2" on 12 of the 13 par 4 holes isn't a testatment to my ability, but more so it reflects how many rounds of golf I've played there in my lifetime. If you play the 2nd hole and 3rd hole upwards of a thousand times, you're bound to hole out a wedge at some point.

I stopped at the 9th tee and walked on to the box, staring out at the 9th fairway. Thirty years ago, if you had 210 yards in, you had a good chance to make a par. These days, if you hit a drive in the middle of the club, you'll have somewhere between 175 and 150 yards to the green. The times -- and the equipment -- have changed, indeed.

Greg and I adopted a funny saying about that 9th hole. We called it a "Number 9 par", which was a good drive that unfortunately required a smart lay-up short of the green because you didn't have the length to reach the putting surface in two shots. You'd leave yourself 20-40 yards to the green, knock your third shot tight, and roll in the par putt for a "Number 9 par".

"You'd of been proud of me, Bunk," Greg would say to me at the scorer's table after a round in the Publinx or Maryland Amateur Stroke Play. "I made a nice Number 9 par out there to shoot 1 over on the front."

The wind was at my back on Thursday. For a second, it was 88 and balmy on a Tuesday evening and Greg and I were sneaking in a few holes while we were "working". We'd quickly play the hole and then ride in and hope Jim Deck, the great longtime pro at the Mount, wasn't out near the cart barn sniffing around for our whereabouts.

I rode over the bridge, across Northern Parkway, and just cruised the front nine. There was a solitary walker, bag on his back, who waved as I moved past him. There were 3 balls in the fairway, all nestled 10 or 15 yards from each other.

There are worse ways to spend a cold December day, I guess, then being able to hit several tee balls off and play them all into the hole. I was jealous for just a second, even if the weather wasn't my cup of tea.

I made my way to the 6th tee and encountered two more players.

"You wanna join us?" one of them asked.

"No, no," I said. "I'm just riding around. How are you guys doing?"

"Doing well, moving along," said the older of the two. "Nobody out here but us."

There are a lot of great phrases in golf.

"Nobody out here but us" might be the most underrated of them all.

I walked up to the 6th tee as they drove off.

June 4, 1995 was the date of my first ever hole in one. It happened at #6 at Mount Pleasant. The flag was back left. My tee shot landed about 20 feet from the hole, above the cup to the right, and slid directly left, on a string, and nestled firmly into the cup.

You don't forget those things.

I watched the two guys play out the 6th hole. One of them made a nice putt of maybe 10 or 15 feet for par. The other one missed a short'ish putt from 3 feet or so and raked the ball back and putted it again. That one, too, missed. He putted it again and it was still visible. His buddy knocked the ball back to him and they walked off the green.

I could hear them laugh. Good natured needling, I assumed.

A lot of great players -- professional and amateur -- have three putted that 6th green at Mount Pleasant. Had I been with them instead of standing on the tee 135 yards away, I probably would have said that. Alas, I just stood there and looked around.

"What a great place this is," I said, out loud, to no one but myself.

In a weird way, I was hoping, maybe, the course itself could hear me sing her praises.

I love winter golf. I always have.

No, the course isn't pristine. The fairways are firm. The greens are sometimes either incredibly slow or wildly fast, depending on how much attention they've been given over the last few months. The bunkers aren't in terrific condition, either.

But the trees still stand there, not as full of themselves as they are in June, July and August, but they don't go away just because the days get shorter and the winds pick up and the temperature goes down.

The course effectively says to you during the winter, "I'm not going anywhere. Don't you worry. I'll still be here for you next April, better than ever before."

As is always the case, things change. 30 years ago, Mount Pleasant was a golfing mecca of sorts for people who wanted to play a championship level course for the robust fee of $11.50 on the weekend. 20 years ago, it was still packed to the gills, even when the price for 18 holes soared all the way to $17.50.

Maybe 10 years ago, the tee sheet started showing holes where it once never did.

These days, people still play Mount Pleasant, but the course doesn't draw nearly the action of, say, 1999.

A lot of things change in 25 years. We all do, of course.

I stood there on #6 tee and said "What a great place this is" just hoping, maybe, my words meant something to the course itself.

I hopped in the cart and buzzed up the hill behind #8 green and headed back over the bridge to take a quick spin through the back nine. I was thinking hard about the last I had played Mount Pleasant from start to finish and couldn't really come up with an answer.

Eagle's Nest played Mount Pleasant in an "A Team" match maybe 6 or 7 years ago and I was selected to play at the Mount for obvious reasons.

Has it really been that long since I played 18 holes there?

I made quick work of the back nine, running into two more players as they putted out on #13, but buzzed my way around the whole incoming nine holes in about 12 minutes.

I sat in the cart in the middle of the fairway at the 18th hole. I tried to think to myself, "How many times have I played this hole?" and I simply couldn't come up with a number. At least a thousand, I figured.

I won a lot of matches on that 18th green and lost a lot there, too. That was the only moment, right then, where I regretted not bringing a club and ball with me on my quick 40 minute trip around the course.

It would have been fun to throw a ball down at the 130 yard mark and nip a wedge into that green.

You know, for old times sake.

I pulled the cart back in quietly and left it right where I found it.

As I sat in my car, I made a pledge.

"I'm going to do something with Mount Pleasant."

I don't know what that is, frankly.

I think I'll call George and talk to him about it. I'll catch up with Greg Ruark soon and talk to him about it as well.

I don't know what I mean when I say, "I'm going to do something", but I'm going to do something.

Whether that means trying to get a significant state event to be played there. Or creating and running my own event there. Or trying to figure out how to help get the old girl the royal treatment she deserves after decades of service to the golf community.

I might even try to organize some sort of high school event there featuring a number of local schools, including Calvert Hall, of course.

I think every young junior golfer in the Baltimore area should know about Mount Pleasant and her history and how much great golf was played there over the last century.

Maybe I'll win the lottery and hand over $5 million to some architectural company to polish up Mount Plesant so the 2050 U.S. Open can be played there.

I don't know what I'm going to do.

But I'm going to do something with Mount Pleasant.

I don't know when. Maybe next year. Maybe in two years. Or three.

I need time to think about it. But I'm doing something.

I do my best thinking in the winter.

George, you can expect a call soon.

	NOTES & COMMENT George McDowell
George McDowell is #DMD's foreign correspondent. His international reports are filed from a hardened outpost just across the U.S. / North Carolina border. He writes on sports topics that interest him that he feels might also interest some segment of the wildly esoteric #DMD readership. George has been a big fan of DF and his various enterprises since the last century, and for several seasons appeared as a weekly guest on his Monday evening radio show, Maryland Golf Live, delivering commentary as The Eccentric Starter. George also donates his time and talents to the less fortunate, and currently volunteers as secretary of the Rickie Fowler Fan Club.

the making of mt. pleasant park

Writer's Note: Around 2003 and 2004, Bill Johnson and I started research for a book about Mt. Pleasant. We later decided the information we found would be more accessible on a website, which we made. Drew recently expressed an interest in re-printing some of that information, and I'll set that out here in the next few days.

the scotsman's design

The city of Montrose, in County Angus, Scotland, is often mentioned in the long history of the game of golf. A Montrose resident named James Melville, in one of the earliest recorded golf writings in 1562, was said to have been taught from the age of six “to use the glubb for goff.” The city holds the distinction of having the first golf widow: In 1629, Magdalene Carnegie suffered the absence of her husband, James Graham, first Marquis of Montrose, as he played golf first before and then immediately after their wedding ceremony, and every day following on the two weeks of their honeymoon. The 1562 Course in Montrose has been in continuous use for more than 450 years, and has hosted many Scottish professional, amateur, and open championships.

The 1562 Course at Montrose

James Winton (1835-1907) was a golf professional and clubmaker of note in Montrose. Clubs made by him are prized by collectors. Winton made several clubs for Willie Park, winner of the first major championship in golf history, the Open Championship of 1860. Park won the Open three more times, the last in 1875. He also played often at Montrose courses, as did his son, Willie Park Jr. (1864-1925), who would win the Open Championship in 1887 and 1889.

James Winton’s son Thomas (1871-1944) was also a golf professional and clubmaker. His playing skills were less than championship caliber, and his clubmaking activity was confined to performing routine tasks in his father’s shop. In order to pursue his dream of designing golf courses, Thomas Winton moved to London around the turn of the century. There he was employed in golf-course construction, working for several architects in building such courses as Coombe Hill and South Herts.

The younger Willie Park’s primary occupational interest was the making of clubs. His designs were revolutionary, and he is credited with the introduction of clubheads with higher loft that launched shots higher and which would stop quicker when hitting greens. Park’s focus shifted over time, and he too developed an interest in golf-course design. When Park decided to take his design skills to the United States, he asked his old friend from Montrose, Thomas Winton, to join him.

Their partnership of Willie Park Jr. and Thomas Winton failed to flourish, however, and Winton soon found it necessary to secure a paying job as superintendent for the Westchester (New York) County Parks Commission, where he remained for many years. He was in charge of maintaining the county's golf courses and parks and with constructing new facilities. In this capacity he designed several public courses in the New York suburbs.

Winton soon found additional design jobs, and in the 1920s was active along the Eastern Seaboard, laying out courses and supervising their construction. When design business fell off in the Depression, he continued in his Parks Commission position and also served as a maintenance consultant for several New York golf clubs. Thomas Winton designed these courses between 1923 and 1929 in the United States:

Mill River Country Club (CT) Woods Hole Golf Club (MA) Cranmoor Country Club (NJ) (now in part Toms River Country Club) Hopewell Valley Golf Club (NJ) (reported closed) Amityville Country Club (NY) (reported closed) Colgate University Golf Club (NY; defunct) Corning Country Club (NY) Kingsridge Country Club (NY) (defunct) Maple Moor Country Club (NY; w/ Archie Capper) Mohansic Park Golf Club (NY) Mount Kisco Country Club (NY) Saxon Woods Golf Club (NY) Sprain Brook [or Sprain Lake] Golf Club (NY) Westport Country Club (NY) Lynn Haven Country Club (NY) (no information)

Winton remodeled or expanded these courses: Big Spring Country Club (KY) Fall River Country Club (MA) Apawamis Club (NY) Hollow Brook Golf and Country Club (NY; defunct) Maple Moor Country Club (NY) Siwanoy Country Club (NY) Sleepy Hollow Country Club (NY) Westchester Country Club (South Course) (NY) Congressional Country Club (Blue Course) (MD)

Thomas Winton was retained to design the Mount Pleasant Park course. Although not certain, it is likely that Winton came to the attention of the Baltimore Park Board as a result of his work on the nearby Congressional Country Club championship course. That course, designed by Devereaux Emmet, opened in 1924. Thomas Winton was brought in to renovate the course so that it would provide a major test for the best golfers, and thus have a greater chance of achieving the membership’s goal of attracting the best national and international competitions.

The Blue Course at Congressional

Thomas Winton’s survey of the Mount Pleasant Park property concluded that the land would support no more than a nine-hole course. It appears, from the limited information available, that Winton concentrated his contemplated nine-hole course on land north of the mansion. It may be that he felt the streams to the south, Herring Run and Chinquapin Run, presented obstacles that would not allow golf holes to be built on the property near where they ran. Additionally, a 2½-acre parcel of land owned by Dr. Henry Barton Jacobs cut into the Taylor property boundary in such a way that it narrowed the land available on which to build. The Park Board negotiated with the doctor for the purchase of the land, and eventually the sale was completed, but it is likely that at the time Winton was designing the course, he had to assume that land would be unavailable.

Winton built a model of his nine-hole design, and construction began in late 1929. It is not now known if Winton was the superintendent of construction.

By June of 1931, only four fairways were ready for seeding, and only one green was near completion. The cost of the work to that point was $42,000. [Several 18-hole courses that Thomas Winton designed and built were completed at costs between $40,000 and $45,000.] The superintendent of parks at that point called the whole thing off, saying that “independent golfers and members of golf associations looked over the work and raised a howl.” Whether the collective howl was caused by Thomas Winton’s design, the quality of the work, or the slow progress of it, is not known.

a remarkable partnership: hanlon & hook

Edward Hugh (Ned) Hanlon (1857–1937) weighed 170 pounds. He batted left-handed and threw with his right. He played 13 seasons as an outfielder in the major leagues, most with the Detroit Wolverines, and hit .260 over those years. He finished his playing career with the Baltimore Orioles in 1892, and the next year became the team’s manager.

Ned Hanlon is buried in the New Cathedral Cemetery on Frederick Road in West Baltimore. Brennan Jensen, in his article "Diamonds in the Sky" (Baltimore Citypaper, April 30, 2003), reports an interesting fact. The cemetery is the resting place of at least four members of the Baseball Hall of Fame. No other cemetery holds that many baseball greats. Joining Hanlon there are Joe Kelley, John McGraw, and Wilbert Robinson.

The owner of the Baltimore Orioles was Harry von der Horst, who was also a minority shareholder in the Eagle Brewery, one of 60-some breweries located in Baltimore at the time. The majority stockholder in the Eagle Brewery was its founder, and Harry's father, John von der Horst. The brewery was located on Belair Avenue (now the 900 block of Gay Street). Harry had purchased a baseball franchise in the American Association in 1881 for $50 and named the new team the Orioles.

The younger von der Horst had a good idea. His main business was selling beer. If he owned a baseballl team, he could sell beer to fans attending the games. By 1892 he had learned that the better his baseball team, the more fans that attended the games, and the more beer he sold. His teams in previous years had not performed well, and he was a little short on capital. He struck a deal with Ned Hanlon: Hanlon would invest some of his savings in the club in return for minority ownership and the right to run it as he saw fit.

Hanlon’s accomplishments as a manager far exceeded his exploits as a player. He had a fiery and raucous temperament, and this attitude rubbed off on his players. His ball clubs were aggressive, and made up in spirit what they lacked in talent. Hanlon used what tools he had to win games. He is credited with being the first to have his teams practice the skills used in playing the game, at the time an unheard-of exercise.

The Orioles were a weak-hitting club. To aid his offense in scoring runs, Hanlon devised or perfected the techniques of the suicide-squeeze bunt, the hit-and-run play, and the Baltimore Chop. He instructed his groundskeeper to insure that the infield foul-lines sloped towards fair territory, so that bunts wouldn’t roll foul. The groundskeeper was also forbidden to water the ground and grass around home plate, resulting in the area becoming packed hard, the better to bounce bunts and Baltimore Chops higher in the air, giving Hanlon’s runners advantages over opposing fielders. Hanlon even went so far as to slope the basepath from home to first downhill so that his runners had a split-second advantage over infielders fielding grounders and throwing to first. Under Hanlon, the Baltimore Orioles won pennants in three successive years, 1894 through 1896.

The 1893 ballyard was called Oriole Park, located at what is today the intersection of Greenmount Avenue and 25th Street. The history of the original Baltimore Orioles is told in a fascinating book by Burt Solomon: Where They Ain't (Doubleday: New York; 1999)

Hanlon had an autocratic nature. He felt that, if given a job to do to, he should be free to do it without interference, and without having to explain what he was doing. His majority partner in the Orioles, Henry von der Horst soon learned this facet of Hanlon’s disposition. When he faced the press to answer questions about his ball club, von der Horst took to wearing a lapel button that read, “Ask Hanlon.” Hanlon’s knowledge of baseball and how the game should be played were acknowledged and respected by the team owners. After he retired as a manager, he was hired to head major league baseball’s Rules Committee.

Ned Hanlon was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996. Six men who played for Hanlon are also enshrined in the Hall. They are Miller Huggins, John McGraw, Joe Kelley, Dan Brouthers, Hughie Jennings, and Wilbert Robinson. A seventh who played for Hanlon, William J. “Kid” Gleason, might have joined them in the Hall of Fame. Gleason won a pennant in his first year as a major-league manager, but unfortunately, the team he managed was the 1919 Chicago White Sox.

In 1916, Hanlon was appointed to the Baltimore Park Board by Mayor James H. Preston. In June, 1931, at age 73, he became its president . When it became apparent that the ongoing Mount Pleasant Park project was to be a failure, Hanlon began his search for a superintendent capable of finishing the job.

Charles Augustin (Gus) Hook was born in 1898. In 1913, he went to work with the Forestry Division of Baltimore City. Part of the time he was a high-tree climber, clambering up tall trees in the parks in order to cut off dead limbs. In World War I, Hook enlisted in the Army. He was shot in battle in the Argonne Forest in France, and was awarded the Purple Heart. The bullet that wounded him could not be surgically removed, and remained in Hook’s arm for the rest of his life. After his discharge, Hook returned to Baltimore and took a job with the city's Bureau of Water Supply, where he worked for 10 years. About 1930, he earned the highest mark on the City Service Commission exam, and was therefore promoted to superintendent of the Patterson Park District. He would move up to become superintendent of the Clifton District in 1932, and then chief superintendent of all the city parks.

Lieutenant Joseph Hanlon, one of two sons (and five daughters) of Ned Hanlon, served in the U. S. Army in W. W. I. He was killed in battle in France. Hanlon Park, near Lake Ashburton in Baltimore, was named in his memory.

Gus Hook was an accomplished amateur golfer. Three times between 1922 and 1933 he played on teams representing Baltimore City in the (discontinued by the USGA) U.S. Amateur Public Links Team Championship. He eventually joined Hillendale Country Club.

Gus Hook and Ned Hanlon met on the grounds of Mount Pleasant Park soon after work was halted in June, 1931. Ned Hanlon was the 73-year-old, newly-installed president of the Park Board, the father of a soldier who had been shot and killed in France in WWI. Gus Hook, age 33, still carrying a bullet in his body from the same war (maybe even the same campaign—the Battle of the Argonne Forest was the deadliest in American history), almost certainly had been installed in the position of superintendent of the Patterson Park District. Hanlon outlined his requirements: an 18-hole, state-of-the-art, championship golf course that would provide a stern test for the best golfers.

“Can it be done?” he asked.

Hook asked for a few days before giving his answer. During those days he walked the property many times; sometimes hitting real golf shots and other times visualizing shots in his mind. He studied the model Thomas Winton had constructed. He measured distances, angles, and elevations, and calculated the number of trees that would have to be cut down. He noted the location of the several streams that traversed the lot, and realized that they would have to be rerouted. The parcel of land that had been acquired by the city consisted of 260 acres. However, Hillen Road cut through the property, effectively slicing off 80 acres from use, leaving only 180 acres on which to put 18 holes and the required buildings. Gus Hook determined that a course could be built to the required standard. He informed Hanlon that it could be done, and that he could do it.

Ned Hanlon shook his hand and said, “You’re my boy!”

Friday December 6, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3757

"i don't know any of them, but they're good!"

Sometimes you pick up the best lines in the strangest of places.

On Wednesday afternoon, #DMD college basketball analyst Dale Williams shot me a text with an invite to see the Terps tangle with Ohio State down in College Park.

"Big ten game. A chance to see Derik Queen. Why not?" I said to myself as I sent back a confirmation text.

45 minutes into what became a 1-hour and 15-minute drive to our meet-up spot off of Route 32, I was having second thoughts about the decision, but I digress.

We made our way to the Xfinity Center for what I think we both suspected, and hoped, would be a nice early season test for the Terps.

So far in '24-25, at least before Wednesday, that is, they were 1-1 in those kind of games. They won a nailbiter against Villanova and lost a tough one at home to Marquette. Ohio State's not going to make the Final Four or anything like that, but Wednesday would be a nice way to break the Big Ten ice for Maryland and see what they have under the hood.

We all know what happened in the game. It was a snoozefest from about the 3rd minute on. Ohio State made the Keystone Cops look competent.

The Terps led 50-17 at half.

The whole night was such a disaster for the the Buckeyes that the refs did something I've never seen before in basketball. About six minutes after they called Maryland for goaltending, the officials said they reviewed the play and decided it wasn't goaltending after all and took two points away from the visitors.

"Imagine giving a 19 year year old kid a hundred and fifty grand and he shows up tonight and plays like this," I said to Dale when Ohio State missed two more routine shots and trailed by 28 points with six minutes to go in the first half.

I'm quite certain what happened on Wednesday was an outlier. If those two teams played five more nights in succession, Maryland wouldn't win like they did on Wednesday once in those five games.

But I'm not sure the environment in the building was an outlier. And that's where this is going.

Dale loves college basketball. On a 1-to-10, he's a 9.85.

On a 1-to-10, I'm a 6.25, I'd say. I enjoy it. I follow it. I don't know that I really "love it" any longer, but that's a story for another day.

I bring that up to say this: You had two guys who are college basketball enthusiasts there on Wednesday night and it was so boring we were very close to leaving at halftime. Not in disgust or anything like that. We're old and the game was boring and we just didn't see the benefit of sticking around to watch Maryland beat them by 35.

But while I was there, I took notice of my surroundings.

Maryland announced a crowd of 13,000. There weren't 10,000 people actually in the building. The student section was jacked. They were on "go" from the opening tip. The rest of us might as well have been reading poetry to one another.

The game itself clearly didn't ignite "Terp Nation" into making their way to College Park for the conference opener. I didn't know what kind of crowd I expected, but I didn't think it would rival a Hershey Bears home game on a Saturday night against Providence.

A Wednesday night in early December is probably not going to generate a raucous crowd of 17,000 no matter the opponent. And make no mistake about it, when Maryland is 12-4 in the conference and they have a huge home game in late February, there won't be many empty seats in the place. When the team is great, which this one might very well be, people will come out.

On Wednesday, though, it was a toss up who was less interested in what was going on: the 10,000 who were there or the Ohio State team on the court.

I didn't have time to ask everyone around me why they were looking at the phones -- like I was -- instead of watching the game, but I suspect it had something to do with the Terps playing roster. And that gets me to the line of the night.

As Dale and I exited the arena with Maryland ahead by 30 and 10 minutes left in the game, I ducked into the men's room for a quick stop before the ride home.

"I don't know any of them, but they're good!" I heard a man say with great delight in his voice.

I looked over to see him talking with another guy at the sink.

"I don't know any of them, but they're good."

I couldn't stop thinking about that line as we walked down the steps to the parking lot adjacent to the arena.

He was right.

On both accounts.

The team is good. Very good, perhaps. It feels like Willard might have a great mix of varying talents. Whether he's the guy to the coach them to the promised land is a fair question since he's never done that in his career. But this Maryland team, as the guy in the bathroom noted, is seemingly good.

And he's also right that we don't know any of those guys, including the one from Baltimore. Derik Queen played one season of high school basketball at St. Frances, then headed off to plot his eventual path to the NBA by attending and playing at the Montverde Academy in Florida.

Baltimore will claim him, of course, but he's not really Baltimore. If you're from Baltimore, you play for a Baltimore school and you grow up in Baltimore, you don't scoot off to Florida.

And I'm not ragging on Queen for leaving Baltimore. He wants to play in the NBA and Florida was a better way for him to reach that goal. I'm just saying...he'd be from Baltimore if he he played four years at St. Joe, St. Frances, Calvert Hall, Dunbar and so on.

The rest of the guys in College Park are from parts all over. The only one we actually do know, really, is JuJu Reese, a true Baltimore kid who has definitey gone from scrawny to beefy in his four years at Maryland.

Gapare comes from Georgia Tech. Gillespie was at Belmont. They are both really nice players. They're also hired guns, like the rest of the team.

What we're seeing in College Park, of course, is the new world order of college basketball. It's the way of college sports, actually, not just basketball.

It's not Kevin Willard's fault he has to play this way. "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" as the saying goes.

You either build your team through the transfer portal these days or you go 11-22 and get fired in three years.

It's terrible.

And by "terrible", I mean it's a terrible way to provide a product to your paying customer, particularly at the college level, where the whole idea behind college athletics is to have student-athletes actually attend the school and take pride in being part of the fabric of the university that they represent on the field, court, etc.

I say this with no disrespect all to those young men I saw on Wednesday night. But they couldn't care less about the University of Maryland.

Those kids are like bartenders. If a bigger bar in town gives them more hours on a Friday and Saturday night and they make $400 a night in tips instead of $300, they're moving on to the new bar. It's the way of the world, even in college basketball. They don't care what school they play for, as long as they can play.

They care about their NIL check. They care about their "brand". And they certainly care about where their next stop might be, which, sadly, is the final part of this story.

When the game ended, Kevin Willard did something I don't remember a college coach ever doing. He told everyone Derik Queen wouldn't be back at Maryland next year.

"I mean, Maryland fans better enjoy watching him, in my opinion, because I don't think he's going to be here next year" Willard said.

I sensed a certain sadness in Willard's voice when he said that in the press conference. He knew it going in, of course. And if Queen's one year in College Park includes a Final Four trip or some other magical accomlishment, Willard will gladly take the one-and-done performance from his future NBA money-maker.

But it still must be tough to coach like that.

Tony Bennett at Virginia didn't want to coach like that any longer, so he quit two months ago.

It's a tough way to run a program, I assume, knowing most of these guys are looking to peddle themselves to the next highest bidder no matter what you do for them in the 40 weeks they're on campus with you.

"I don't know any of them, but they're good!" the guy said in the bathroom.

Kevin Willard didn't say it. But on his ride home Wednesday night, he was probably thinking the exact same thing.

---

We were originally going to run a story from George McDowell about the incredible history of Mount Pleasant today, but with the Ravens off this weekend, I thought I'd give George's incredible account of how Mount Pleasant came to be all the space it needs on Saturday.

You'll be amazed at what George discovers about the birth of Mount Pleasant and how it was eventually built.

I'll also have an announcement of sorts about Mount Pleasant myself on Saturday. Tune in, please.

faith in sports

Former sportscaster Rudy Kalis has a great story. I won't tell you about it. He'll tell you in the video below, where he chronicles how his faith helped him deal with an ever changing career.

Kalis has an incredible personal story, too, as he wasn't born in the U.S. and came here with Russian parents to start a better life.

I love when I find an example of how someone in the real walk of life can share how their life changed through God. This is one of those examples.

Thanks, as always, to our friends at Freestate Electrical for their continued support of #DMD and our "Faith in Sports" segment here every Friday.

Thursday December 5, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3756

make it make sense, please

A football player is apparently not happy with his playing time.

He's not getting enough snaps, he thinks.

As a receiver, he wants the ball thrown to him. And when he isn't in the game, the ball can't be thrown his way.

Suddenly, a coach says to him, "Hey! Great news! You're in the game! Let's go make some noise!"

And it's then you decide, "Nah, I'm good, bro. I think I'll just stay right here."

Make it make sense, please.

You went from a last place bottom feeder to a first place team with a legitimate chance to win the Super Bowl.

In Charlotte, you might have been getting the ball thrown to you a half dozen or more times a game, but you were on the bad end of a lot of 28-13 losses.

What's better?

Going to a new team that's really good, where you might have a chance to be a winner for the first time in your career?

Or hanging around a losing team that's going nowhere fast?

Forget about catching footballs for a minute.

Let's just talk about your "quality of football life".

Do you want to toil for the Panthers? Or bask in the limelight of the Ravens?

There are disputes, still, about the original author of this quote: Some say it was Churchill, some say it came from Truman.

"We can achieve anything as long as we don't care who gets the credit."

Diontae Johnson clearly never heard it or believes in it. The Ravens found that out last Sunday when they told Johnson he was going into the game after Rashod Bateman got injured and Johnson politely (or not?) declined to enter the game.

He was peeved other guys were playing ahead of him, even though he had joined a winning team with receivers who had -- checks notes, real quick -- been here longer and were more integrated into the system than he was.

Receivers always want credit. It's all about them. They think they block the defensive line and throw the ball to themselves.

As soon as something doesn't go their way, they pitch a fit like a 6-year old who just had their Slinky taken away from them.

So Johnson decided last Sunday he didn't want to be part of winning. Or losing. He simply decided not to participate.

Never mind that his teammates were all out there fighting. Johnson didn't like the way things were playing out in Baltimore so he decided on his accord he wasn't going to fight with them.

And for that, he was suspended yesterday for next Sunday's game against the Giants.

You're asked to work by your employer. They're paying you. They want you to work. You tell them, "No, I'm not working."

Make it make sense, please.

When Ravens GM Eric DeCosta released the news on Wednesday, he said, "We've made the difficult decision to suspend Diontae Johnson..."

I almost fell over in my seats down in College Park as I read DeCosta's statement while I watched the last few minutes of the warm-up before the Terps drubbing of obviously unprepared and shockingly inept Ohio State squad.

"You did what?" I said to myself as I read the statement again. "You made the -- let me get this straight -- DIFFICULT DECISION to suspend an employee who refused to work?"

Man, this country really has lost its mind.

In virtually any place that we all know as "the real world", this person would have been terminated. Like, immediately. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Adios, "brah", as the kids say these days.

The decision to suspend someone who told his entire team -- his "brothers" as the athletes are prone to say when the times get tough -- "I'm not willing to help you today" was a difficult one?

Make it make sense, please.

Cutting Diontae Johnson seems like the natural, no-reason-to-even-question-it move by the Ravens.

"We're playing for our lives. It's a critical home game in December. Every win or loss could be the difference between playing at home in the playoffs or playing on the road in the playoffs. One catch. One touchdown. One reception -- assuming you can stand up long enough to collect the ball, which HAS been a problem for you -- on 3rd and 11 to keep a 4th quarter drive alive could be all we need from you. And you're not going to go into the game to help us accomplish that?"

You have to go. Like, today. Now.

But maybe the Ravens are seeing something from 35,000 feet that we're not seeing.

Perhaps they'd rather just let Johnson be a healthy scratch for the rest of the season to teach him a lesson and to keep some other team from scooping him up when you kick him to the curb.

That is one of the things being tossed around on the internet. "Don't cut him. Just let him rot on the sidelines or in the stands for the rest of the season."

I get that.

But I also don't get that. Because I don't want that dude around. I don't want him around the players, the trainers, the janitors or the guard who opens and closes the gate at the entrance to the facility.

In fact, frankly, he doesn't "deserve" to be a Raven.

I thought, quite honestly, the Ravens stood for more than this.

You're going to keep a guy around who quit on your entire organization in a huge game in December that could have massive implications during the post-season?

Please, please, please. Make this make sense.

And, no, I don't think a fair trade off is a compensatory pick if Johnson signs elsewhere in the off-season. If I'm Eric DeCosta or John Harbaugh, I don't give a rat's rear end about a compensatory pick for a middle-of-the-road wide receiver whose had as many clubs as Fred Couples over the last three years.

Shoot this dude all the way to the sun. Like, today.

I feel like I'm living on some other planet.

The team's offensive coordinator summoned Diontae Johnson to go in the game and he refused.

And you want that guy hanging around your locker room for the next six weeks?

I thought the Ravens were waaaaayyyyyy better than this.

I'd rather lose 35-10 to the Chargers in the first playoff game than to let some journeyman player whose never won a thing in his life decide when he's going to go in and not go in.

Congratulations, Ravens. With only 26 voting days remaining, you're now the clubhouse leader for #Clownshoes Moment of the Year.

And the second place moment is so far behind, they need binoculars to see you.

baltimore golf and its history

#DMD writer Greg Trehane checks in with a long-form Q&A with Drew Forrester. The subject: The history of Baltimore golf and the names and courses that have made it one of the mid-Atlantic's best golfing areas over the last century.

Part 3, Clifton Park and legendary stories

Trehane: "You spoke very fondly of Clifon Park. Why?"

DF: "I think, like most American sports fans, we're fond of the underdog. Clifton was always the underdog to places like the Mount and even Pine Ridge."

Trehane: "How so? Can you explain?"

DF: "In almost every way. It's location (Harford Rd. and Erdman Ave. area of the city) wasn't very desirable, for starters. I mean, they plunked a golf course right down in the middle of Baltimore City. You had cars literally driving through the course. The layout was short. People always assumed it was easy pickings because it was only 6,200 yards or whatever it was. And not a lot of folks from out in the county ever ventured down there to play it, so it was definitely an underdog sort of place. It was really blue collar golf, if that's even a term. There were some real characters down there playing golf."

Trehane: "And yet it appealed to even competitive players like you and some of the other better golfers in the area?"

DF: "I'll say this and say it with no shame. I think the best golf I ever played in my life from a scoring standpoint came as a result of playing regularly at Clifton on the weekends for about six years. From 1998 through 2004 or so. I played in the Slam Bang down there every Saturday and Sunday, hot or cold, and it was there that I learned how to score and how to make birdies when you had to and how to get to five or six under par and not get the heebie-jeebies because you were playing so well."

"In those days of the Slam Bang, they would routinely get 28 guys on the sign-up sheet and we'd go out at 9 am. I'd play with my buddies like George McDowell, Mark Joyner, Greg Ruark, Jason Keller, Billy Wingerd, Phil Novak, Walt Kraft, Mike Raborg, Denny Hresko. And that's where I met Chuck Ebner and Jackie Rites. Billy and I or Mark and I would go out on a Saturday and play against Chuck and Jackie and if you didn't make at least 4 birdies on each 9 holes, you were losing to those guys."

"You'd play them for $5 a side and a $5 total. It was only $15. But it was still real money. And you almost always had 3 or 4 other sides games going on with other guys. Again, you're not talking tons of money, but you might have $60 or $80 on the line and you knew you had to play really well or you were going to lose."

"You knew before you started there were 5 or 6 holes you probably had to birdie because they were short and every player you were playing against had a pitching wedge or sand wedge into the green; number 2, number 3, number 6 was a short par 5 along the road where Phil (Novak) lived, number 11, number 12. You stood on the tee of those holes and said, 'If I don't make birdie here, I'm losing ground. That place taught you how to score."

Trehane: "Earlier you mentioned Clifton Park featured a lot of characters there. How so?"

DF: "Well, I say that respectfully, because we were all characters in our own way. These guys were my friends. But you would go down there on a Saturday morning and see all walks of life playing the course. Guys would show up in jeans and a sweatshirt with a Pabst Blue Ribbon logo on the front and you'd get paired up with them and, at the turn, they'd be 2 under par and you're just shaking your head. Guys would be shot-gunning beers on the first tee. Everyone had their own little cooler with, well, whatever their personal concotion was. But they could also play golf. They weren't hacks. And they knew how to play Clifton Park. If they went to the Mount or Pine Ridge, they'd be hard pressed to break 85. But at Clifton, they could shoot 72 with no problem."

Trehane: "Any funny or memorable stories stick out from your days at Clifton?"

DF: "Oh, man, way, way too many. There was a time when one of the guys' I was with told us before the round that his wife was mad he was playing so much so he told her he was working overtime on Saturday and wouldn't you know it, she showed up at the snack bar by the 8th green and called him every name in the book and threw a cup of coffee at him. I'll never forget it, he said, to her, "Honey, I need a par for 18 points. Please let me play the 9th hole in peace. I'll be home in 2 hours." She MF'd him all the way to the tee box. The next week I saw him and asked how eveything went when he got home and he said, "She went out clothes shopping after she ripped me in front of you guys and spent $300 and when I got home, she was fine."

"After they re-did the layout and added that new goofy 16th hole over by the tennis courts, Phil Novak had the original course record on that rotation of holes with 65. I was playing with him on a Sunday in the Slam Bang and I birdied 15 (downhill par 3) to get to 4 under, then made birdie at 16 and 17. I needed a birdie at 18 to shoot 7 under and 64 which beat his 65. Most guys in that situation wouldn't have wanted to see their course record broken. But Phil was great. We got to 18 tee and he said, 'You birdie this hole every time I play with you (which wasn't really true). Let me see you do it today.' And he meant it. And I made birdie there and Phil was genuinely happy for me. He turned the card in to the shop and told them to put it up behind the counter and take his down and all that stuff. It was cool. And then, oddly enough, I was in the foursome with a guy named Chris Davidson in the Publinx a year or two later who shot 62 for the new course record."

"But probably my favorite story involved two great guys, Al Medlin and Bobby Lumsden. My buddy Mark Joyner and I played them in a friendly $5 nassau one day. I remember it was in the spring and the greens had been punched. They were still very bumpy and unpredictable. Mark and I thought those two would be easy-peasy for us. They were both good players. I mean, Lumpy beat Johnny Miller in the U.S. Amateur and eventually lost to Ben Crenshaw that year, I believe. He once held the Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia amateur stroke play titles in the same summer. But he was 20 back then. The day of this match, he was probably 55 or 60. Anyway, it's back and forth all day and we're all riding each other hard and Medlin is making these crazy putts and out of nowhere, Lumpy birdies number 17 to put them one ahead. He's chirping on the tee, nursing whatever adult beverage he has in his Thermos, and Mark and I are apopletic that we might lose to these two guys."

"I almost never hit the 18th green in two shots back then (or now). But on that day, I hit this great 3-wood between the two trees in front of the green to 30 feet. Lumpy is out of the hole. Medlin hits a wedge for his 3rd shot to about 20 feet. So, we're going to win that hole and wind up tying the match and saving face. There's no way Joyner and I want to walk into the clubhouse and have to hear that we lost to Medlin and Lumpy. I roll my eagle attempt down to the hole. It plinkos around on the aerated green and stops a foot away."

"In those days at the Slam Bang, there were no gimmee putts. Everything had to be putted in. Medlin snickers and says, in his southern accent, 'Hey Lump, what do you say I just make this one and put these two out of their misery?' Lumpy says, 'I think that's a great plan.' And freakin' Medlin rolls this ball down to the hole, it bounces four different ways, and falls right into the middle of the hole for a birdie. Now, I have to make this one footer for my birdie or we lose all three ways. It was the hardest one foot putt I ever had to make because those two were over there giggling and knee slapping and cackling about how they just 'whooped up on us'. I made it. But that was a hard ten dollars to hand over. And the abuse we took from them for the rest of the summer never ended. Mark and I kep saying, 'You boys want a rematch today?' and Lumpy would laugh and say, 'You had your chance to beat us. You lost. We have other fish to fry today.'"

Trehane: "Any other closing thoughts? This has been great for me to hear, personally. I caddied for Blair Laubach several times back in those days and all of these names you've mentioned have stirred up some great memories of my time with Blair (who passed away in 2018). So thank you for this."

DF: "Well, first off, Blair was an excellent player. I competed against him a lot. He was a top guy in the area for a decade or so. I guess the one last thing, which is sort of when my days as a regular at the Mount came to an end, was the fact that we built a Tuesday "tour" as we liked to call it largely off of the Slam Bang. The Slam Bang was a great influence to me and a lot of the guys because it was competitive golf the way it was meant to be played. Every putt was holed. The rules were followed. You didn't touch the ball. There was a dollar or two on the line on almost every shot."

"So, in the summer of 2000, we started getting tee times at 3 pm every Tuesday at the Mount and it became an "open game". Buy your greens fee and put $10 to get in the big game and we paid out skins at the end of the round. No strokes. No handicaps. We had 6 handicap players show up who wanted to play with and against better players, knowing they were probably going to wind up on the losing end of things, but they wanted that experience."

"It started with 12 players. Then we got to 16. And by the time we go to the fall, we had 20 guys there every Tuesday afternoon. I distinctly remember playing on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. Like it was yesterday. And we all went back to Schooners (now Skipjacks) after golf for a burger and to do the scoring and we all sat there together, in the bar, watching President Bush address the nation after the attacks on the World Trade Center earlier that day."

"There's actually still a small group of guys, Greg Ruark, Jeff Amhrein and some others, I think, who will play every Tuesday, although I think they've shifted to Pine Ridge for some reason. That Tuesday Tour -- we called ourselves "The Knuckleheads" -- was really a lot of fun and, like I said, I think it was golf being played the way it's supposed to be played."

Wednesday December 4, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3755

"it's time to clean house"

I won't beat this one into the ground today. Not too much, at least.

I promise.

But there was a caller on local sports radio on Tuesday who chimed in with one of the all-time dumbest, most outlandish "takes" in the history of dumb, outlandish takes.

"If this Ravens team doesn't win the Super Bowl, Biscotti needs to just clean house. From DeCosta to Harbaugh to everybody on the coaching staff. All of 'em gotta go."

And, no, I didn't misspell Steve Bisciotti's name. Well, I wrote it as the guy said it -- Biss-cotti.

He's really up on his Ravens, huh?

Anyway, his assertion was a serious attempt at sports talk. "Fire everybody" if the Ravens don't win the Super Bowl.

And then what?

Because sports radio hosts no longer engage in back-and-forth dialogue, there wasn't the obvious follow-up question. Or questions, plural.

Like...

"You mean if the team goes 12-5, wins the division, beats three teams in the playoffs, beats Kansas City on the road to get to the Super Bowl, then loses to, say, Detroit, 24-23, in the Super Bowl...you're going to fire EVERYONE?"

"Don't you think firing everyone is a bit extreme?"

"Who are you bringing in to replace the 20 people you're eliminating, particularly the GM, head coach and two coordinators?"

And, the most obvious question of them all.

"What happens if the people you bring in don't have the same level of success as the group you summarily dismissed?"

The caller was just ushered on with a "Thanks for the call" and that was that. He had his 30 seconds on the air, made his point, and was gone.

As I thought about it, maybe that was the best way to handle him. Get him on the air, let him spew his crazy idea, and move onto someone more rational.

But it always leaves me shaking my head when I hear people call in with stuff like that because it's very apparent that they're dead serious. When he gathers at the water cooler, he tells all of his football-loving buddies that the best response from "Biscotti" would be to fire everybody if the Ravens don't win it all in 2024.

That way, when they don't win it all in 2025, he can always say, "I told you guys last year DeCosta, Harbaugh and the rest of them had to go. Nobody wanted to listen to me."

I blame most of this craziness on the internet. I don't think sports fans were nearly this nuts before the mid 1990's.

That's enough on that subject. Just, please, as you navigate the potentially-rough-waters of this final 8 weeks of the NFL season in Baltimore, promise you'll be better than that guy.

Promise?

---

Baseball with a "golden at bat" moving forward? Rob Manfred says the idea is "gaining steam" with the 30 owners, which, of course, could either be a flat-out-lie or a gross exaggeration of the truth.

Manfred could have brought up the concept of the "golden at bat" at a meeting this week and then asked, "Do any of you think this is absolutely the dumbest idea you've ever heard?" And when no one raised their hand to say "yes", he took that as a sign that "the idea is gaining steam".

For those who don't know, baseball is toying with the idea of allowing each team to bring anyone they want to the plate once a game, no matter the circumstance.

In general, most people I checked out on social media on Tuesday were dead-red against the idea. Most were even, I'd say, vehemently opposed to it.

Me?

I actually don't think it's the dumbest idea I've ever heard.

I mean, baseball starts an inning with a runner on 2nd base and no outs in the regular season. There aren't many ideas that can be more dumb than that one.

But here's the thing: Dumb or not, it definitely works. It gets a lot more games to end in the 10th or 11th inning, which is what it's supposed to do.

It's dumb. But it works.

The supporters of the golden at bat proposal will cling to the obvious: "You're paying your top guy $40 million, why shouldn't you be allowed to use him in the most pressure packed moment? When you need him the most?"

And it's true. Baseball's the only sport where you're not allowed to play someone whenever you want. Football might be Exhibit B to that, since Lamar, for example, can't play defense. Well, he could, but you know what I mean.

But there's never a moment on offense when Lamar isn't "allowed" to play.

Imagine a basketball game where, say, LeBron isn't permitted to play in the final 3 minutes.

Or a hockey game where Ovechkin wasn't allowed to be on the ice for more than 15 minutes per-game.

You get the point.

If the Dodgers trail 4-3 in the bottom of the 9th but Ohtani is due up 6th in the inning, they're getting nothing out of the player they've invested $50 million in.

It's kind of dumb to not have that option, at least.

And, yes, I know it's always "been that way" in baseball. You come up to the plate when the batting order allows for it. I get it. But that doesn't mean baseball shouldn't look at things to make the games more exciting.

Having that option once per game isn't as terrible of an idea as people think.

I mean, you can basically bring in any pitcher you want at any time, right? Why shouldn't you be allowed to have someone come to the plate -- once in a game -- whenever you want?

I'm not saying I'm 100% in favor of it.

But I am saying it's not the dumbest idea I've ever heard.

Nothing will ever beat leaving Zack (or was it Zach, then?) Britton in the bullpen in Toronto in 2016. Now that was the dumbest baseball idea...ever.

baltimore golf and its history

#DMD writer Greg Trehane checks in with a long-form Q&A with Drew Forrester. The subject: The history of Baltimore golf and the names and courses that have made it one of the mid-Atlantic's best golfing areas over the last century.

Part 2, The players who made Baltimore golf special

Trehane: Going back to Mount Pleasant for a minute, what were the unique elements of the course that made it difficult for tournament golfers?"

DF: "You have to remember I only really saw the course in its prime tournament condition for about 15 years. From roughly 1993 through 2008 or so. I don't know much about 'the old days' when the Eastern Open was played, but obviously holes number 2, number 14 and number 15 were totally different back in the 1950's."

"When I played there regularly and competitively, three things always stood out to me. First was the fact that the greens were incredibly tricky from green to green. The right green on the first hole was very treacherous but the left green on the first hole was about as flat you would find out there. The 4th green was always tough to read. Number 6 was impossible if you were above the hole. The 11th and 15th greens were similar. Very big and very slow going uphill but very fast going downhill. The greens out there were the great equalizer. I remember one year, it might have been 1998, where I hit 44 greens in 54 holes of the Stroke Play Championship and shot 8 or 9 over par for three days. I just couldn't make any putts."

"I thought the par 3 holes were almost always going to dictate your scoring for the round. If you played those three holes in even par you were definitely ahead of the field. If you played them in one over par, you were probably ahead of 60% of the field. But you could easily play them in three or four over if you weren't careful. And then you had to play the other 15 holes in even par to have a good score. And that was tough to do."

"The toughest stretch of the course was 11 through 14. You had to hit a straight 190 yard shot at number 11. You had to hit a half-a-draw tee-shot up the right side at number 12 and hope it didn't careen too far left down into the hazard. You had to hit a fade 225-240 yard shot off the at number 13 and then hit an approach to an uphill green. And then you had to bust a nice drive of 250 or so, at least, to get the ball into play safetly off the tee at number 14. Those four holes were all unique. I always thought the 12th hole out there was one of the few holes where you stood on the tee and said, 'I should make birdie here.'"

"To me, a really good tournament score at Mount Pleasant was anything under 75. If you shot 71 or better, you played great golf. But 72, 73, or even 74...those were VERY good scores in competition out there. If you go back and look at the winning scores of the Maryland Amateur Stroke Play, it wasn't like guys were routinely shooting 6 or 8 under to win. It was more like 1 or 2 under for 3 days would win it. There were some years where guys like Billy (Wingerd) would have a great round of 65 or 66, but he would also have a 70 or a 72 in there. You just couldn't shoot 66-66-66 at Mount Pleasant. It wasn't happening. For anyone. And these were some of the best amateurs in the state, remember.'"

Trehane: "When you look through the list of winners, you mentioned Billy Wingerd, but there are others who won multiple amateur tournaments at Mount Pleasant; Joe Walter, Serge Hogg, Bob Lentz. What do you remember about those guys?"

DF: "I never got to play with Joe Walter. I certainly heard of him. Anyone in Baltimore golf knew about him. He was a legend. But I do have a cool story about Joe."

"Sometime in the 1990's, I took a couple of the older guys who hung around Mount Pleasant down to the Kemper Open because they wanted to see Fred Couples in person. I had seen Wayne DeFrancesco for a lesson or two and he was playing in the event so I thought it would be neat to go down there and follow him around. We got down to the practice range and there was Wayne, hitting balls next to Mark O'Meara and Chip Beck. I got Wayne's attention and he came over to say "hi" and Mark O'Meara walked over and the guys I brought with me started talking to O'Meara and the next thing I know, they're chatting about Baltimore golf. O'Meara says, "Wasn't Joey Walter a Baltimore guy?" and their eyes lit up and they started talk about Joe and Mark yells over to Chip Beck and says, 'These guys know Joey Walter.' It turned out, Beck was Joe's roommate at the University of Georgia. 'Joe Walter," Chip said, with his southern accent. 'Is the best striker of the golf ball I have ever known. To this day. And that's the god's honest truth!'"

"I never did see Joe play. But all of the old guys at Mount Pleasant revered him. They thought he was the cat's meow."

"Serge was always the most natural player of the Baltimore guys I competed with and against. If there was ever a "born golfer", it was him. He just had a knack for hitting the great shot at the biggest moment. His golf swing never changed, yet he was always supposedly working on something. He was a remarkable player. Gritty. A blue collar golfer in a complimentary way. If you gave him an inch in a tournament, he would beat you."

"We were all a little bit envious of Serge. We worked on our golf game all the time. He'd show up with a styrofoam cup filled with an adult beverage, wearing jeans and a pullover and ask, "We playing for anything, boys?" and then hit it 275 yards right in the middle of the 1st fairway and go on to shoot 69. He made a lot of guys better when he did that, but it drove us all crazy."

"Bob Lentz was actually a Calvert Hall golfer back in his high school days. He was a very solid player. Drove it straight, hit his irons well. Very underrated putter. We went head-to-head a lot. He was fun guy to compete against. Didn't say much. Just played the game the right way. I always knew he'd be in the hunt in every tournament he played."

"Billy was incredibly talented. He still is, even now. I saw Billy grow up from high school to college to being one of the top amateurs in the state. There was no weakness in his game. When he first started playing competitively he had a bit of a wild hook going off the tee, but once he got that figured out, he became a great driver of the ball. He had great hands. He was a very good putter. He was one of the few guys in the area -- along with Chris Baloga -- who could putt those Mount Pleasant greens. I always thought Billy could have made a run at making a living playing golf if he would have really pursued it. He's one of the best players I've seen and played with and against, along with Chris and Serge, for sure. When those three were on top of their game, I'd put them up against any amateurs anywhere."

Trehane: "And Serge caddied for you at the U.S. Senior Open a few years ago, right?"

DF: "He did, yes. It was an incredible week, for sure. And he was a huge help, all week. He's a great caddie, for starters, and he knew exactly what to say at the right time, whether it was something funny to lighten the moment or something serious to get me to dig in a little bit. The fact that we have a longtime friendship made it really special. He was as excited to be there as I was, I think. Two Baltimore guys hanging out a U.S. Senior Open. We laughed about that all week. 'We're a long way from Mount Pleasant, aren't we?' he said about 3 times a day, I think."

Trehane: "Any other Baltimore names come to mind that are worth remembering?"

DF: "Oh, we could do this for hours. Doug Ballenger played in the Masters! From Baltimore. I think he won the Maryland Amateur two or three times. I played with him one year in the Maryland Amateur Stroke Play and it was like watching a Tour player work his way around the course. I think he shot 71-70 those first two days and might have missed two shots in two rounds."

"Chuck Ebner and I played a lot of golf together at Clifton Park in the early 2000's. We haven't even talked about Clifton Park. That's another place with great history. Jim Thorpe and his brother Chuck played there in the 1970's. A lot of big money matches were played at Clifton in the old days. Anyway, Chuck Ebner was a terrific player. He played in a U.S. Senior Open somewhere, I believe. Jackie Rites and Charlie Harris were contemporaries of his at the Country Club of Maryland. I played a lot with Jackie at Clifton. He and Chuck were great partners in two man events."

"Bob Kaestner has been a great amateur in this area for four decades now. He's won just about everything you could win. I know I'm leaving out people, which I hate to do."

"Speaking of Chuck (Ebner), he would often tell me about a guy named Billy Collins who was from Baltimore. I never saw him play, but Chuck said he was "pro tour material". And if anyone knew, it was Chuck."

"It's really amazing how many great players have come through Baltimore over the last 40 years. We had a guy from Baltimore play in the Masters (Ballenger) and a guy from Baltimore (Moose Brown) play in the U.S. Open. We've also had a couple of local PGA professionals play in the PGA Championship; Mark Evenson and Dave Hutsell. Mark's from Indiana originally. Dave's a Baltimore guy who used to wash carts at Mount Pleasant."

"I don't know how I'd rank the top 10 Baltimore golfers and who they would be, but I know this: I'd put them up against any other city's top 10 players. Any day."

In part 3 tomorrow, Greg and Drew go through some other memories of Baltimore golf, including the development of a Tuesday group and the weekend "Slam Bang" at Clifton Park.

Tuesday December 3, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3754

"it's always something you don't suspect"

I'm not going to solve the dilemma the Ravens face with Justin Tucker.

Only Tucker can do that.

But I'll give you the reasoning behind keeping him around, if that's what you're looking for.

Ignoring that Tucker is going through a rough patch would be silly. He is struggling, there's no doubt about that.

The question facing the Ravens is: What do they do about Tucker?

Here's what they can't do: They can't outright just cut the guy.

They'd get dinged with over $7.5 million of dead money on next year's salary cap if they walked in today and gave him the pink slip. They're not doing that.

Nor should they.

There are people around town clamoring for the Ravens to bring in a veteran kicker who is floating around looking for work. I don't see that as a solution, either. There are only 32 place kickers in the entire NFL. If a dude is good enough to be one of them, he'd be one of them.

So bringing someone in seems futile. I mean, let's be serious, who are you more confident in? Justin Tucker at 80% of what he was or some guy who would be on his 5th team in 8 years?

And, again, you then have to sign the new kicker and figure out what to do with Tucker. You can't cut him. So you'd be paying him to essentially do nothing except collect a paycheck. You could do what the Orioles do and make up an injury for him to help save face, but that wouldn't work, either.

In the end, the Ravens are most likely stuck with Tucker. For better or worse.

And here's where I will tell you there could still be some "better" for him between now and the end of the season.

I'm not a field goal kicker by trade, but there are a lot of similarities to kicking and playing golf. You often hear kickers refer to the golf swing motion, in fact, when discussing their routine and the way they generate speed through the kick.

So while I'm not a kicker, I do know this: Justin Tucker didn't forget how to kick. In fact, he knows more about kicking right now, today, than he has ever known in his life. He might not be as good at 37 as he was at 27, but very few high level athletes are.

Tucker is going through something in his kicking mechanics that only he knows. In this way it is similar to a golfer. A lot of times it can be a very, very minor tweak in your set-up, for instance, or in the way you're making contact with the ball that is off by a fraction of an inch.

Just last week, I had a competent junior golfer in the area seek me out for some swing guidance. His regular coach wasn't available, the young man said, and he wanted a "new set of eyes" to look at his swing.

We met at Pine Ridge at 6:00 pm. After three minutes of small talk, I asked him to hit some balls.

"What's bugging you?" I asked him.

"I hate my ball flight," he replied. "I was hitting this big, high fade all summer and now I'm hitting this low, draw-hook. I hate it."

After about the 10th ball, I stopped him.

"What are you aiming for?" I asked him.

"The yellow 150 marker," he said.

"OK. And you think you're aimed at that 150 marker correctly?" I asked.

"I think I am," he said.

I took two alignment sticks out of his bag and put one where his feet were aimed and another where his feet should have been aimed.

His body was lined up 20 yards right of the 150 marker.

That created a closed stance, which also promoted a ball position that was an inch or two too far back in his stance along with a flat backswing. The result was a closed club face at impact that led to a pull-hook that he'd been experiencing.

All I did was got him to line up square (straight) to the target, which got the ball more up, forward, in his stance. He started striping every single shot.

The look of joy and relief on his face as he rifled ball after ball out into the driving range was priceless.

And I didn't do anything with his golf swing. All I did was move his feet and body into the proper position and his natural athleticism and golf IQ did the rest of the work.

I have no idea if "fixing" Justin Tucker is that easy, but my guess is there's something very minor that's "off" with him. And I'd bet he's been trying to find what that is for the better part of a month or two and he can't figure it out.

If I had a dollar for every golf tournament I started in my life where I went into it knowing I didn't have the golf swing with me that I wanted to have, I'd be a semi-rich guy.

I tell people this all the time about golf: It's a 3-week sport. You "have it" for 3 weeks and you think you'll never hit a bad shot ever again. You "lose it" for 3 weeks and can't figure out what's going on. You "chase it" for 3 weeks and spend that time going through new swing thoughts, videos, lessons, etc. until something finally clicks and you're back to that 3 weeks where you "have it".

If you play good-to-great golf 3 weeks out of 9, you're doing something only a few people can do.

Kicking, I think, is the same.

You're only as good as your last game. Tucker's last game was a disaster. He's in that 3-week period where he's "chasing it", trying to figure out what on earth is going on with his technique.

I don't think -- as the kids say these days -- that Justin Tucker is "washed".

It's not like he's missing every field goal. He made one from 50 on Sunday, for example. And he has made some big kicks throughout the season. Yes, he's missed some. No one's denying that. But he's not a bum, either. He's just not the Justin Tucker of old and it's shocking to a lot of people, including him.

He'll figure this out, Tucker will. It's always something you don't suspect. Whether he's ever "Justin Tucker" again remains to be seen, but there's a better chance this turns out well than it doesn't turn out well.

The last piece of this, though, is the most important one of all.

The Ravens have to stick with him. Cutting Tucker isn't an option.

But they might have to scoot in his "projected kick line" to, say, anything 30 yards and in, meaning if the kick is 47 yards or shorter, they'll give him the kick. But if it's 48 or beyond, they're going to have to go for it on 4th down, assuming it's short yardage and not, like, 4th and 14.

In the past, anything 55 yards and in was pretty much a "Tucker time" decision. Those days are definitely gone.

This will put more heat on Lamar, Henry and Monken to make sure they have plenty of 4th and 2, 4th and 4 and 4th and 6 options at their disposal moving forward. If you're going to go for it more times than usual, you can't just have three or four plays in your back pocket.

And I don't know much, but I know this: At some point, this season, or in the playoffs, the ball will be on the 30-something yard line and Justin Tucker will have to make a meaningful kick for the Ravens.

It always works that way.

If your bunker game is suspect, you know you're hitting it into a greenside bunker on 18 needing a par to win your club tournament.

If foul shots are you nemesis, you know you're getting sent to the line for a one-and-one with your team trailing 59-58 with 2 seconds remaining.

And if you're the field goal kicker and you're struggling, you know it's coming your way in the waning seconds of a huge game. It just is.

But, as Lamar said after Sunday's fiasco, where he got the offense into the end zone only once when the game was in the balance, "We have to do a better job of not putting (Tuck) in that position."

Apparently, that might have to be the game plan moving forward, as weird as it seems to say.

baltimore golf and its history

#DMD writer Greg Trehane checks in with a long-form Q&A with Drew Forrester. The subject: The history of Baltimore golf and the names and courses that have made it one of the mid-Atlantic's best golfing areas over the last century.

Part 1, Arnie and Mount Pleasant

Trehane: "Let's start with your personal history at Mount Pleasant. When you did play there and how long did it take for you to realize it was such a historical golf course?"

DF: "I think I played my first round there in the late 1980's, maybe. But I didn't really start playing the Mount regularly until 1991. I worked for the Blast soccer team at the time and a player on the team who was also an avid golfer, Rusty Troy, lived right down the street from me in Perry Hall. In those days, weekend tee times were a premium, so you had to show up at the course at like 5 am to get on the waiting list, which we did quite a bit back then. If you were lucky, you got out sometime before 9 am."

"You got a sense of the history of the course right away if you spent enough time in the pro shop and restaurant, because there were pictures of Arnold Palmer everywhere, trophies everywhere, and even some old news clippings tacked up on the board about Arnie's win in the 1956 Eastern Open."

"Later, when I was playing there a lot in the mid to late 1990's, I met guys like Bunny Mannion who caddied in those Eastern Opens and he would tell us some great stories about the players and their rounds at the Mount. I remember once he showed me a place where Palmer got up and down for par on the 12th hole. He walked over to it like it was yesterday instead of 40 years ago. He tossed a ball down, over near the 13th tee, and said, 'Arnie got this up and in during the 2nd round in '56 when he won. See if you can do it.'"

"So, yeah, if you were ever a regular at the Mount, you learned a lot about the tradition of the course and the history. Sam Snead won the Eastern Open there, Tommy Bolt won there, Lloyd Mangrum won there. It was a great tournament course, as evidenced by the fact that anything between 8 under and 12 under usually won."

Trehane: "Your name is on quite a few tournament trophies on display there now. That must feel very special to walk in the pro shop and see that, right?"

"It does. Probably once a year I'll take my two kids over there for breakfast just to see if there's anyone hanging around from the old days and I'll always walk in the back and look at the trophies and plaques from the Public Links tournaments that were run in the 80's, 90's and 00's. I won the club championship there four times, too. And back then, winning that was a big deal because, A) there were a half dozen or more very good players you had to beat over two days to win it and, B) winning the club championship got you a 2-year exemption into the Baltimore City Amateur, which was a big summer event back then."

"It's also fun to look at those trophies and see the names of guys who were really good amateur players that I competed against for so many years. Serge Hogg, Bob Lentz, Walt Grabowski, Greg Ruark, Blair Laubach, Brendan McKinney, Tim Elliott, Dale Williams, Billy Wingerd, Chris Baloga, Rusty McCready, Tim Osgood - they all won at least one if not multiple city golf championships. You know you had to beat those guys just to have a chance to win and that was always tough to do."

Trehane: "What happened to Mount Pleasant? In terms of tournament golf?"

DF: "Well, I can't answer that one completely because I don't know all of the reasons. But for the most part, I think it just became an economic decision by the people at Baltimore Municipal Golf who used to run the event. They had a Board of Directors to answer to, and when they showed their balance sheet at the end of the year, any weekend when they held an amateur tournament always took a loss, financially, because they weren't generating the same amount of revenue during the day they normally would."

"So, you could either make the tournament fee something outrageous like $200, just to break even, or you could just keep selling foursomes of tee times to the general public and make your revenue that way. You have to remember, running an event also puts stress on the grounds and maintenance crew. If you're doing it right, you have to get the course in "tournament condition", which, especially in the summer, puts the property at risk in terms of cutting the greens down to tournament speed, etc. There's more to it than most people realize."

"They do have an annual 2-man event at Mount Pleasant every May that I'd like to play in but over the last two years it has conflicted with the high school championship match. They also have a Baltimore Amateur Championship that is played at Mount Pleasant and Pine Ridge in August. I'm going to try and get that one on my schedule next summer."

Trehane: "What's your fondest Mount Pleasant memory?"

DF says: "This one's easy. As a competitive golfer, you might have one or two out-of-body-experiences in your life, where you're playing the game here (Forrester points to the ground), but you're seeing the course up here (points to the sky). I know that's weird and you think I'm nuts. But anyway, you might get one or two of those momemts in your lifetime."

"So in 2004 I started having some putting problems. I was playing a lot at Mountain Branch back then while still playing pretty regularly at the Mount as well. On a Friday, the day before the Spring Publinx championship, a guy named Stefan Buitron gave me a long putter on the practice green at Mountain Branch and suggested I take it out and try it. So I did. I had a little bit of success with it, but nothing crazy. I made a few birdies. Missed a few I shouldn't. But it felt comfortable, for some reason. I asked him if I could keep it over the weekend and thought to myself,'If I putt poorly on Saturday at Mount Pleasant, I'll use it on Sunday at Forest Park in the second round.'"

"I got to Mount Pleasant early on Saturday morning and putted with the long putter on the practice green for a while and said, 'You know what? I'm going to use this today. It can't be any worse than flinching at putts with the short putter. What's the worst thing that can happen?' I still remember I was paired with Brendan McKinney and Doug McIlvain and they both looked at me like I had three heads when they saw me practicing with the long putter before the round."

"So...I make about a 6-foot birdie putt at #1. I make a 10-footer for birdie at #2. And I hit my second shot at #3 to a foot and make that. I'm now 3-under par to start. I hit it to 15 feet at #4 and make that one. At #5, the flag is in the back left part of the green and I hit my 2nd shot about 20 feet right of it and just a hair into the fringe. And I roll that one in. I'm 5-under. Doug and Brendan are both laughing. I'm laughing. We're standing on the 6th tee and they're practicing with my long putter. 'How long have you been using this?' Doug asked me. 'About 45 minutes,' I said."

"I par #6 and then I hit my second shot into the bunker at #7 and don't get it up and down. I think that putt was in the 10-foot range coming back. I just missed it. So now I'm 4-under on #8 tee. I hit my second shot to 10 feet there and make it. Back to 5-under. And then at #9, I hit a 5-iron to about 20 feet and make that one for my 7th birdie in 9 holes."

"I made birdie at #10 to get to 7 under. And at that point, I was officially out of my comfort zone. I didn't know how to play from there. I went from playing golf to thinking about it too much. I bogeyed #12, #14 and #17 to finish 4-under. But, man, those first 10 holes were something else. I've only experienced something like that one other time. It was surreal. And to do it at the Mount was really cool."

In part 2 tomorrow, Greg and Drew discuss the prominent names and players that have made up Baltimore amateur golf for the last century.

Monday December 2, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3753

no longer automatic

Look at the brightside.

Instead of planting a flag at midfield on the Ravens logo yesterday, 7 Eagles players and 5 Ravens players gathered in a circle to pray.

No fighting. No shenanigans. No pepper spray.

The brightside, as they say.

The bad side, though, was a (very) uncharacteristic home loss by the Ravens to an Eagles team that did the proverbial "just enough to win" in a 24-19 victory in Baltimore that marked the first time ever that Lamar Jackson lost a home game to a NFC opponent.

All good things come to an end.

No, that's not a reference to Justin Tucker. But it does appear as if Tucker is on the 16th tee of his Hall of Fame career.

We'll get back to him in a minute.

The game itself was a weird one.

No one on the Ravens was "great", per se, but other than Tucker, no one stunk it up, either.

Well, actually, Jordan Stout wasn't very good either, but punting is way down the list of reasons why the Ravens lost on Sunday.

Lamar was "off". Other than the garbage time TD the Eagles surrendered, he only got his team into the end zone one time yesterday.

Derrick Henry had moments of success but was from his dominating self.

And the Baltimore defensive line got punctured by Philly's running game time and time again.

Zach Orr never could figure out a way to stop Philly's outstanding receiver, A.J. Brown.

I could go on but you get the picture.

No one had a remarkable day on either side of the ball, really.

And let's give credit where it's due: The Eagles manned up and came into Baltimore and out-Raven'd the Ravens. That's not easy to do.

If you're a true silver-linings kind of person, here's the good news: John Harbaugh wasn't to blame yesterday, so you won't need to endure a week of "fire the coach" on talk radio.

Like I said...silver linings.

Two things happened we didn't necessarily expect on Sunday and three things took place that we expected. That is, as it relates to the AFC playoff picture.

The Bengals -- as we assumed they would -- lit up an overrated Pittsburgh defense for 38 points at home.

But the Steelers somehow scored 44 themselves and picked up a victory most NFL analysts assumed they'd drop on the road.

That win moves the Steelers to 9-3.

The Ravens lost a home game to a NFC team that no one saw coming. Baltimore now falls back to 8-5.

In snowy Buffalo last night, the Bills clobbered the heartless 49'ers, 35-10. Buffalo remains hot on Kansas City's heels for the #1 seed in the AFC with a 10-2 record.

The Chargers went into Atlanta and -- with the help of Falcons' QB Kirk Cousins -- picked up a key road win, 17-13. L.A. improves to 8-4 and now has an 96% chance of making the playoffs according to the stats geeks.

Denver, currently 7-5, hosts Cleveland tonight.

Pittsburgh has Cleveland (h), Philadelphia (a), Baltimore (a), Kansas City (h) and Cincinnati (h) remaining. That still feels like an 11-6 season for Mike Tomlin's team to me, but one win against a real team like Philly, Baltimore or KC could change all of that. Obviously if the Steelers win in Baltimore on December 21 the division is sewed up for them.

The Ravens get the bye week and then an automatic 37-13 win in New York against the Giants the following Sunday to move to 9-5.

Then they host the Steelers, travel to Houston, and host the Browns to finish out the campaign.

The home game vs. Pittsburgh decides almost everything, but that pesky trip to Houston on Christmas Day would also loom large.

If the Ravens beat Pittsburgh on December 21 but somehow finish tied with them at the end of the season (presumably at 11-6), it would then come down to record within the division. Pittsburgh is currently 2-1. Baltimore is 2-2. Assuming all plays out equal there, the teams would finish 4-2 in the division.

The next step after division record is "common games". The teams have currently played these common opponents thus far: Broncos, Chargers, Raiders, Cowboys, Commanders. Both teams are 4-1 in that department; Baltimore lost to the Raiders, the Steelers lost to the Cowboys.

The Steelers have already defeated the Giants and the Ravens will obviously beat them on December 15. That's 5-1.

Pittsburgh still has to play Philadelphia and Kansas City, but the Ravens lost to both of those teams as well. If things play out where the Steelers lose to Philly and KC, the two teams would finish with identical 5-3 records in common games.

The next tiebreaker is "conference games" and this one, too, is crazy. But it's also where the Ravens would lose out assuming they beat the NY Giants, Pittsburgh and Cleveland, but lose to Houston, to finish at 11-6 with Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is 6-2 right now but if all things play out as expected they'd lose to Baltimore and KC and beat Cleveland and Cincy to finish 8-4 in conference games.

Baltimore is 5-4 in conference play but with a loss to the Texans, they'd lose the tiebreaker at 7-5 in conference games.

The Steelers at Pittsburgh game is huge. So, too, is the Ravens at Houston game. But as you can see above with the "common games" tiebreaker, the loss to the Eagles was very damaging as well.

Yes, it's true. John Harbaugh is off the hot seat this week. But talk radio will still be filled with "fire that guy!" phone calls except they'll be calling for the head of.......Justin Tucker.

Tucker even got booed yesterday at home when he missed a 53 yard field goal. Booed. Justin Tucker. The dude made every putt he looked at for 10 years and now you're booing him?

It's a tough, tough league.

Harbaugh addressed Tucker's situation after the game saying, "He's our guy", which, of course, Harbaugh was always going to say.

Whether the Ravens bring in a veteran kicker over the bye week to take a look-see is a different story. That might be best for all involved, although I can't imagine Justin Tucker needs "competition" to get his kicking game back on track.

Tucker is the ultimate professional. He knows most of the kicks he's missing are ones he'd make in his sleep just two years ago. Bringing someone else in to put the heat on him isn't going to help Tucker...but it might help the team if a newcomer can come in and make the kicks Tucker is missing.

There are salary cap ramifications that go along with every player's dismissal, so you can't just say "cut the kicker this week". It doesn't work like that.

But the Ravens are clearly going to be in the market for a new kicker this off-season unless Tucker discovers what's ailing him and gets it fixed in the season's final month and into the playoffs.

Is it the "yips", as a lot of people are suggesting?

I'm not sure that's the definition of what he's doing through. But it's something of that kind, for sure.

Even the extra points he's making don't look all that sharp. The one at the end of the game last night barely snuck through the uprights.

And then, of course, there was the earlier missed extra point that set the tone for a very unsetting day for the future Hall of Fame kicker.

There's no sugarcoating it now. The Ravens have a kicker problem.

It might simply mean they're going to have to go for it on 4th down a lot more when they're somewhere around the opponent's 35 yard line. Who knows? That could actually benefit them in a nature-of-unintended-consequences kind of way.

But with the game on the line late in the season (and you just know Tucker will have a chance to make a kick that beats either Pittsburgh or Houston), can he make the kicks that matter?

And in the playoffs...

We've never really considered "life after Tucker" around here. But it's time to put that on the off-season "to do" list.

Sunday December 1, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3752

what exactly did you expect?

Before we tackle yesterday's embarrasing display of behavior throughout college football, let's zero in on the big game today in Baltimore between the Eagles and Ravens.

Two high-flying birds meet up, albeit in different conferences, with both teams needing a win to continue cementing their position in the upcoming playoffs.

I won't drag this one out.

I think we all know what's going to happen.

There have been lots of NFC teams throughout the Lamar Jackson era who have made their way to Charm City with a chip on the shoulder and something to prove.

Earlier this season, in fact, the Commanders-with-the-Redskins-logo (I know, I don't get it either, just go back to calling them the Redskins), bounced into town riding high and left with their tail between their legs.

Last year it was Detroit who came to Baltimore looking to go one-on-one with Lamar and the Ravens and they, too, left bruised and bloodied.

And it's not just in Baltimore where Lamar owns the NFL, either. He's 23-1 against the NFC as a starter. But this one today just happens to be a home game.

Philadelphia's football team isn't chopped liver. Their hockey team is a ragged bunch, which delights us all. But their football team is pretty daggone good.

That won't matter today.

It's 7-3 Ravens after one quarter and 14-10 Ravens at the half.

Two Justin Tucker field goals in the 3rd quarter coupled with one from Philadelphia makes it 20-13 heading into the 4th quarter.

The Ravens get a huge 3rd and 9 run from Lamar with 6 minutes left that sets up another Tucker field goal and it's 23-13.

Philadelphia marches down field and scores a touchdown with 56 seconds remaining. The extra point makes it 23-20.

They have all three timeouts remaining and elect to kick off rather than try an onside kick.

After a quick gain of 2 yards and 3 yards on first and second down, the Eagles call their second time out to set up for the biggest play of the game with 48 seconds remaining.

Derrick Henry breaks through the line and scampers 71 yards for a game-sealing touchdown in a 30-20 win as Baltimore does that they always do against an NFC opponent.

As Dan Hicks said when Tiger rolled in that 12-foot birdie putt on the last hole of regulation in the 2008 U.S. to take Rocco Mediate to a playoff: "Expect anything different?"

---

I don't know where to start with this next slice of opinion.

All over the country yesterday, people were outraged at a variety of teams and coaches, ranging from Michigan and Ohio State to North Carolina State and North Carolina to Penn State and, our friends down in College Park, the Maryland Terrapins.

There was also late night episode between Florida and Florida State as well that centered on the same theme. Showing up the opponent after a win.

I have no idea what happened yesterday, but everyone in college football had their chakras out of line.

Let's start with the lowest-hanging fruit of them all: Penn State's 44-7 win over Maryland up in State College.

This one was the biggest nothing-burger of them all and -- I can't believe I'm actually writing -- James Franklin hit the nail on the head after the game.

Penn State was up 38-7 with their 3rd and 4th string guys in there while the Terps had a mixture of their top guys and some second teamers still on the field trying to keep the Nittany Lions from scoring.

The home team scored on a touchdown throw on the game's final play to finalize the scoring at 44-7. No, they didn't attempt the extra point, if that's what you were wondering.

As the two coaches met at midfield, Mike Locksley had some words for Franklin, who pretty much said, "If that's how you feel, that's fine."

Locksley, of course, thought it was overboard to score on the game's final play with the outcome already sealed.

I've never understood how these coaches calculate the difference between getting your rear-end handed to you and the other team showing you up.

The Terps were either going to lose 38-7 or 44-7. What's the difference? Either way, you got hammered.

And Franklin was spot on afterwards when he said this: "I get it. At the end of the game, we throw a touchdown. My job is to put the threes and fours in the game. But when the threes and fours get to go in the game, they get to play football. Those guys deserve to play football. Your ones are in the game. You're trying to score. We're trying to score. On top of that, you're playing cover zero, if you don't want play cover two. So I'm good with it. And on top of that, there's also a change in college football, we are trying to play as long as we can make the playoffs and be seeded as high as possible and scoring as many points and a point differential matters."

I'm no card-carrying member of the James Franklin fan club, but he's right. He lathers and prepares those back-up players every week in practice telling them, "If you ever get in a game, you better play your ass off young man." And, so, when they're in, like he said, they deserve to play real football.

And he also knows the touchdown at the end of the game wasn't a great look for him. But he's not responsible for Maryland's feelings. Mike Locksley is responsible for the Maryland team.

I also understand Locksley's spot there. If he doesn't act agitated and irate, everyone says his heart's not in it.

Oh, and I seem to remember Maryland posting a 50-7 win over UConn earlier this year in College Park, including a touchdown with one minute left in a game they were leading 43-7.

The football players want to play football. Let them do it.

Now, the rest of the shenanigans on Saturday were truly something to behold. You had at least four "attempted" flag plantings at midfield after the road team pulled off a big win on foreign turf.

And you had one episode in College Station where the Texas coach did the right thing and told his players, "We don't do that here" as they circled the Texas A&M logo after their 17-7 win over the Aggies.

Here's the reality no one seems to grasp about college football. Or, frankly, football in general. Those who are regulars here know what I'm going to write before you read it:

Football is built around taunting,

On almost every play in football, someone taunts or otherwise says, "I made that play, look at me and look how foolish I made the other guy look."

It's in high school football, too. A Loyola player was flagged for taunting in the Turkey Bowl, of all places. I didn't see what happened so I can't comment on it. And I'm not here to beat up Loyola, per se. I'm just saying, taunting starts at the high school level and goes up from there.

Actually, I don't watch Pop Warner or "junior football" so I don't know this for a fact, but I suspect there's taunting among 10 or 12 year olds that then extends up a level to high school.

Anyway, you can't possibly be surprised at the stuff that went on all Saturday, whether it was in Columbus, Chapel Hill or Tallahassee.

And you can't be shocked at all at the reaction from players at Ohio State, North Carolina or Florida State, who took exception to the fact that they were being showed up in their own stadium.

One lunatic from Michigan actually went on television after their 13-10 win over Ohio State and said, "They have to learn how to lose."

You mean by letting the winning team prance around at midfield and jeer at them and post stuff on the internet? You really thought Ohio State was just going to take the flag-plant-attempt without any reaction?

As Mr. Hand said in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, "What are you people? On dope?"

Here's something to chew on: Maybe you need to learn how to......win.

But anyway.

The same thing happened in Chapel Hill, too, after the Wolfpack upset the Tar Heels. They tried to plant the red flag at midfield and North Carolina players busted it up.

The one place where sanity apparently played out was in Tallahassee, where Florida coach Billy Napier was livid with his players for ignoring his post-game edict to not "create any problems".

"Obviously, what happened there at the end of the game is not who we want to be as a program," Napier said. "It's embarrassing to me, and it's a distraction from a really well-played football game. I want to apologize on behalf of the entire organization just in terms of how we represented the university there. We shouldn't have done that. We won't do that moving forward. And there will be consequences for all involved."

Fair enough. Thanks, coach.

That's all that need be said.

It's amazing how many people around the country yesterday thought the kids from Ohio State, North Carolina and Florida State were "out of line".

What did you expect them to do when you were taunting them?

Then again, they'd do the same thing to you if they won in your stadium and you'd react exactly the same way if you were the losing team.

Bush league called and said, "I think you guys are going a little overboard now."

When it's 36 degrees and windy on a less-than-seasonable Thursday in early December, even the heartiest of golfers have left the clubs in their garage.

Mount Pleasant was almost entirely empty yesterday when I rolled into the parking lot just after 1 pm.

There were enough cars there that it seemed logical at least a handful of brave souls were out on the course. What would motivate them to do that is beyond me, but then again, there was a December day circa 1998 when my buddy Greg Ruark and I walked 27 holes in 17 degree temperatures on a Saturday afternoon.

So, yes, people play golf in frigid conditions just because they feel like playing golf that day.

I was there yesterday for a reason, but I wasn't sure what that was, exactly. The Q & A with Greg Trehane I've published this week stirred up a lot of memories for me, as did a midweek phone call with George, as we spent 40 minutes laughing and recalling good days gone by.

A lone golf cart sat by the cart barn as I slipped out of my car and pulled a winter hat down over my ears.

"This isn't the first time I've snagged a cart without reporting in to the pro shop", I thought to myself as I eyed the key in the ignition and prepared to get in and jet off for a quick whirl around the course.

And off I went.

I wasn't sure where I was going, or why, even, but I wanted to take a look at the old lady in her December glory. No golfers to wait for, no concerns about an errant ball pinging me in the back of the head. I was pretty much able to go where I wanted and do whatever it was I going to do.

I rode on the cart part that borders the 9th and 10th holes, heading in the direction of #9 tee.

In the old days -- I'm talking the mid 1990's, now -- the 9th hole was a bear. It played 445 yards and the tee ball required both length and precision to get it to the top of the hill, where you would be very fortunate to be at the sprinkler head in the middle of the fairway that read "207". How do I know it says "207"? Because Greg (Ruark) and I painted those yardages on them way back in the day.

Here's a fun fact. I've eagled every par 4 at Mount Pleasant (all with second shots going in the hole, none were drives-and-putts) except for #9. That I've made a "2" on 12 of the 13 par 4 holes isn't a testatment to my ability, but more so it reflects how many rounds of golf I've played there in my lifetime. If you play the 2nd hole and 3rd hole upwards of a thousand times, you're bound to hole out a wedge at some point.

I stopped at the 9th tee yesterday and walked on to the box, staring out at the 9th fairway. Thirty years ago, if you had 210 yards in, you had a good chance to make a par. These days, if you hit a drive in the middle of the club, you'll have somewhere between 175 and 150 yards to the green. The times -- and the equipment -- have changed, indeed.

Greg and I adopted a funny saying about that 9th hole. We called it a "Number 9 par", which was a good drive that unfortunately required a smart lay-up short of the green because we didn't have the length to reach the putting surface in two shots. You'd leave yourself 20-40 yards, knock your third shot tight, and roll in the par putt for a "Number 9 par".

"You'd of been proud of me, Bunk," Greg would say to me at the scorer's table after a round in the Publinx or Maryland Amateur Stroke Play. "I made a nice Number 9 par out there to shoot 1 over on the front."

The wind was at my back yesterday. For a second, it was 88 and balmy on a Tuesday evening and Greg and I were sneaking in a few holes while we were "working". We'd quickly play the hole and then ride in and hope Jim Deck, the great longtime pro at the Mount, wasn't out near the cart barn sniffing around for our whereabouts.

I rode over the bridge, across Northern Parkway, and just cruised the front nine. There was a solitary walker, bag on his back, who waved as I moved past him. There were 3 balls in the fairway, all nestled 10 or 15 yards from each other. There are worse ways to spend a cold December day, I guess, then being able to hit several tee balls off and play them all into the hole. I was jealous for just a second, even if the weather wasn't my cup of tea.

I made my way to the 6th tee and encountered two more players.

"You wanna join us?" one of them asked.

"No, no," I said. "I'm just riding around. How are you guys doing?"

"Doing well, moving along," said the older of the two. "Nobody out here but us."

I walked up to the 6th tee as they drove off.

June 4, 1995 was the date of my first ever hole in one. It happened on the tee box at #6 at Mount Pleasant. The flag was back left. My tee shot landed about 20 feet from the hole, above the cup to the right, and slid directly left, on a string, and nestled firmly into the cup.

You don't forget those things.

I watched the two guys play out the 6th hole. One of them made a nice putt of maybe 10 or 15 feet for par. The other one missed a short'ish putt from 3 feet or so and raked the ball back and putted it again. That one, too, missed. He putted it again and it was still visible. His buddy knocked the ball back to him and they walked off the green.

A lot of great players -- professional and amateur -- have three putted that 6th green at Mount Pleasant. Had I been with them instead of standing on the tee 135 yards away, I probably would have said that. Alas, I just stood there and looked around. "What a great place this is," I said, out loud, to no one but myself.

I was hoping, maybe, the course itself could hear me sing her praises.

As is always the case, things change. 30 years ago, Mount Pleasant was a golfing mecca of sorts for people who wanted to play a championship level course for the robust fee of $9.50 on the weekend. 20 years ago, it was still packed to the gills, even when the price for 18 holes soared all the way to $13.50.

Maybe 10 years ago, the tee sheet had holes where it once never did.

These days, people still play Mount Pleasant, but the course doesn't draw nearly the action it once did.

I stood there on #6 tee and said "What a great place this is" just hoping, maybe, my words meant something to the course itself.

I hopped in the cart and buzzed up the hill behind #8 green and headed back over the bridge to take a quick spin through the back nine. I was thinking hard about the last I had played Mount Pleasant from start to finish and couldn't really come up with an answer.

Eagle's Nest played Mount Pleasant in an "A Team" match maybe 6 or 7 years ago and I was selected to play at the Mount for obvious reasons.

Has it really been that long since I played 18 holes there?

I made quick work of the back nine, running into two more players as they putted out on #13, but buzzing my way around the whole incoming nine holes in about 12 minutes.

I sat in the cart in the middle of the fairway at the 18th hole. I tried to think to myself, "How many times have I played this hole?" and I simply couldn't come up with a number. At least a thousand, I figured.

I pulled the cart back in quietly and left it right where I found it.

As I sat in my car, I made a pledge.

"I'm going to do something with Mount Pleasant."

I don't know what that is, frankly.

I think I'll call George and talk to him about it. I'll catch up with Greg Ruark soon and talk to him about it as well.

I don't know what I mean when I say, "I'm going to do something", but I'm going to do something.

Whether that means trying to get a significant state event to be played there. Or creating and running my own event there. Or trying to figure out how to help get the old girl the royal treatment she deserves after decades of service to the golf community.

I might even try to organize some sort of high school event there featuring a number of local schools, including Calvert Hall, of course.

I think every young junior golfer in the Baltimore area should know about Mount Pleasant and her history and how much great golf was played there over the last century.

I don't know what I'm going to do.

But I'm going to do something with Mount Pleasant.

I don't know when. Maybe next year. Maybe in two years. Or three.

I need time to think about it. But I'm doing something.

George, you can expect a call soon.

Saturday November 30, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3751

now that was an instant classic

Look, I realize some of you curmudgeons who can't stand the thought of being one-upped will bristle at what happened last night in the Georgia-Georgia Tech football game, but that, right there, was a colossal "instant classic" if ever there was one.

It took Georgia eight overtimes to win the game. Hanging in the balance was seeding for the College Football Playoff, among other things, and the potential embarrassment of losing to a very mediocre in-state-rival.

Because college football likes to take something that isn't broken and tries to fix it, they go to 2 point conversions only after two overtimes.

Both teams scored touchdowns in the first OT and kicked the extra point. In the second OT, both teams scored touchdowns and both failed to convert a 2-point conversion.

The game shifted to 2-point attempts only in the third overtime, and neither team found the end zone in the third and fourth OT periods.

Both teams were successful on 2-point conversions in the fifth OT period to make the score 42-42, then both failed to convert in the sixth and seventh OTs.

Georgia Tech then threw a pass for their 2-point attempt in the 8th OT frame and it sailed out of bounds. Finally, Georgia capped off the instant classic when they ran it in for the win on their 8th OT attempt.

Georgia (10-2) rallied from 17 points down to send the game to OT, where their eventual victory probably gave them a spot in the playoff tournament no matter what happens next Saturday in the SEC Championship Game against today's winner of the Texas A&M/Texas contest.

A Georgia win next week gives them an 11-2 mark and likely top 4 seed in the playoff. A defeat might put them in the 10-11-12 seeding area.

So, here we are, one year into the expanded college playoff, and it's very possible a 3-loss team might sneak their way into the tournament.

Nice job, guys. So glad you fixed that college football playoff.

There was -- pun intended here -- an "instant firing" in the NFL on Friday, as the Bears dismissed their head coach Matt Eberflus, one day after a massive faux pas in Chicago's 23-20 loss to the Lions in Detroit.

The only reason the Bears didn't fire Eberflus on the flight back to Chicago was, I assume, because it was Thanksgiving. No one gets fired on Thanksgiving, not even the coach who doesn't call a time out with 20 seconds left in a (meaningless for the Bears) game that didn't really matter.

Alas, Eberflus didn't make it through Black Friday.

There's a lot to unpack from the firing and how Thursday's fiasco played into it.

First, it's very likely Eberflus isn't the guy to get the Bears to the next level, and that really doesn't have anything to do with the botched game management situation on Thursday. Chicago had lost 5 straight before the defeat to the Lions and, in a division that has quickly become the best in football, Chicago's setting themselves up to be basement dwellers if they don't do something quick.

Now, as for Thursday, specifically, Eberflus certainly deserves blame. Whether that, in and of itself, was worthy of canning him is a Bears management decision. Just spitballing here, but if, somehow, that's Mike Tomlin or Matt LaFleur or Dan Campbell who does that same thing, I doubt they get fired over it.

That said, the moment on Thursday probably also showed the Bears they don't have the right guy at quarterback. And that has to be a tough pill to swallow after they used the #1 pick on USC's Caleb Williams last April.

Unless he was specifically instructed to not call a time-out there -- which he wasn't -- then Williams has to get a huge amount of blame on Thursday. I would say he deserved a "lion's share" of the blame, but you know, that's the kind of low hanging fruit we try to avoid around here.

Anyway, your quarterback is the engineer. He's the straw that stirs the drink, supposedly. As he goes, the team goes. And so on and so on.

That Williams let the game expire in the fashion that it did is incredibly telling about him, in my opinion.

Coach to blame? 100%

He's the one directing the ship, after all. If he wants a time-out there, he calls one.

Quarterback to blame as well? 100%

The Bears only needed a field goal, after all. Williams' explanation afterwards that he was trying to hit a short pass over the middle to then use a time out and set up the game-winning field goal sounded like someone who A) didn't realize he actually had a time-out to use, or B) lost track of the time on the clock, you know, the one staring him right in the face in the end zone.

Back to Eberflus for a second.

Thursday's crushing loss in Detroit wasn't the first time this season the Bears participated in their own undoing. There was that game in Washington DC back in October where Chicago gave up a game-losing hail mary pass on the day's final play.

You might also remember that as the occasion when one of the Bears defensive backs was jawing back and forth with the Commanders' fans before racing back into the play as Jayden Daniels ran around in the offensive backfield trying to make a 50-yard throw.

Me? I'd almost fire the coach for that before I'd fire him for not using a time out in a game he might not have tied or won, anyway.

Then again, players play and coaches coach, as the saying goes.

If one of his players just makes a normal, routine, junior varsity play on the long heave by Daniels, Chicago wins.

If his star quarterback, the one they picked #1 and gave $40 million to, just uses his brain and calls a time-out himself with 20 seconds remaining, who knows where Matt Eberflus is today?

In the end, do you know who is really responsible for Matt Eberflus not being successful in Chicago?

The people in the Bears front office who hired him, that's who.

He was likely never the right guy from jump street, but somehow he got the nod, either because he was cheap and the Bears figured they weren't going to win anyway for a few years or there was just no one else out there that tickled their fancy at the time.

No matter the reason, the Bears are back to square one.

They definitely don't have a head coach right now.

And they might not have a quarterback, either.

It's hard to win in the NFL if you don't have those two pieces.

Just ask.......the Chicago Bears.

Friday November 29, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3750

reading time: 3 minutes

It's officially "holiday season" in our country, what with today's arrival of Black Friday and all.

I could be wrong on this and I'm sure I'll see a video or two on the internet proving me wrong, but it doesn't feel like people are planning to spend all day at stores just to save $100 on a flat-screen TV or $50 on a new viedo game console.

I'm not sure why that is, mind you. Maybe stuff is just on sale earlier and/or longer these days? Or, perhaps because of so many online shopping sources, items are just more readily available than ever before?

I don't know the answer. But it just feels to me like Black Friday is losing its strength in our country and that, to me, would be more than OK.

Let's move on to another edition of Reading Time: 3 minutes.

As always, a tip of the cap to our old friend Phil Jackman.

There are some rumors floating around that the Alex Ovechkin leg injury is more serious than the Caps are letting on and he could miss as much as 10-12 weeks of the season. If that's true, the Capitals will have their hands full on the ice. They're hanging in there now without Ovi, but they probably wouldn't be able to withstand his absence for two months or more. The goal scoring record also hangs in the balance. If he returns in the 4-6 week time frame that was originally announced, he can still break the record this season. But if he's out until late January or so, the record will have to fall next season.

Tiger Woods will miss the upcoming Hero World Challenge as he recovers from yet another back surgery back in September, but at this point we all know the only tournament Tiger really wants to play in is the annual Parent-Child tournament the weekend of December 21-22. Sure, Tiger would love to return to the PGA Tour and win again to set the new career wins record (83), but at this stage in his career, the Parent-Child event in Orlando is the one he wants to win the most with his son, Charlie. Can he do it? He's Tiger Woods, of course he can.

Blake Snell going to the Dodgers would seemingly help the Orioles in their pursuit of re-signing free agent pitcher Corbin Burnes. Or, at the very least, it would probably mean the Dodgers are off the list of teams chasing after Burnes, who recently finished 5th in A.L. Cy Young voting. But there are still whispers that the Yankees, Mets and Red Sox will hotly pursue Burnes. My sleeper team for Burnes? I think he's headed to San Francisco to pitch for the Giants. Anywhere but L.A. and the Dodgers, right?

Miami's loss to the Packers last night drops the Dolphins to 5-7 and puts Denver (7-5) firmly in control of the own fate in the race for the 7th seed in the AFC playoffs. Quick, when's the last time the Broncos made the playoffs? Think about it. Don't Google it, either. We'll give you the answer a little later.

Dan Hurley, the UConn men's basketball coach, was in the news earlier this week for losing his cool a couple of times at the Maui Invitational, where his Huskies lost three straight games. Hurley, you might have seen, didn't just have a blow up or two. He lost his mind at the game officials on several occasions, swearing at them within easy capture of courtside TV micophones. Hurley is an excellent basketball coach. There's no two ways about that. He's also a complete embarrassment to the profession when he blows his stack on the court and takes out his frustrations on the referees. Shape up, Coach. You're not setting a good example.

The end of the Bears-Lions game yesterday featured a crazy scene in the final 30 seconds, where the Bears failed to call a time out and took a half-minute to get off their final, failed play while trailing in Detroit by just three points. I'm sure you were thinking the same thing I was thinking as the scene unfolded, much to the horror of game broadcasters Jim Nantz and Tony Romo: Imagine if John Harbaugh and Lamar Jackson conspired to pull off a similar brain-flub in Baltimore. The entire town would have a Hall of Fame-worthy conipition. Chicago probably doesn't care all that much. But in Baltimore, Harbaugh would be absolutely roasted beyond belief. And rightfully so, I might add.

Anyone know what the Wizards record is one month into the NBA season? Yeah, I don't know, either.

OK, so the Broncos haven't been to the playoffs since the 2015 season, which is also the year they won the Super Bowl over the Carolina Panthers. Yes, it's been that long since Denver has been in the post-season. Unless something really weird happens over the final month of the regular season, they're headed back there this January, where they will almost certainly face the #2 seed in the first round.

Has anyone else's personal schedule been thrown off by this year's late Thanksgiving? I don't know about you, but I definitely feel a week behind given that yesterday, November 28, was Thanksgiving. Don't look now, but December's here. Pretty soon, you'll be seeing ads on CBS for the Masters in April. Spring, of course, begins when the Masters is played. "Hello friends, the flowers are in full bloom here in Augusta, Georgia, and so, too, is the golf game of Scottie Scheffler, who just minutes ago rolled in this 10-foot birdie putt at the 2nd hole to increase his lead to four shots in the 3rd round of the 2025 Masters."

I had to look it up, of course, but the Wizards are a NBA worst 2-15, including a current 13-game losing streak. The Wizards are very fortunate there's no relegation in the NBA or they'd be in the second division next year. And the year after that, too.

I know the Lions are 11-1 and have the best record in the NFC, but something tells me it will eventually be the Packers who make it to the Super Bowl from "the other conference". Trust me, nothing would be better than the Lions finally making it to the Super Bowl, but until they do it, I'll assume they won't. Green Bay is solid on both sides of the ball. And the Lions are just getting too many injuries on the defensive side of the ball. I hope I'm wrong, but I'll take the Packers going to the Super Bowl.

The College Football Playoff is expanding to 12 teams for the first time this year and they are, predictably, still going to have controversy attached to who gets in and who doesn't get in. When they had 4 teams in the playoff, some "deserving" schools got left out and everyone said, "Make it 12 teams and everyone who should get in, will get in." Well, now there's talk that a 3-loss team might actually make it, like South Carolina, depending on how other things shake out along the way. It would really be fun if a one-loss team like Indiana eventually got squeezed out of the 12-team picture and a 2-loss (or 3-loss) team made it over them.

Right on cue, I just saw something on the news about today being Black Friday and how the "holiday season" actually started back on November 1st (?) in the United States. The news anchor claims $77 million has already been spent in the last month. So there you have it. Black Friday is underway, but you've probably already spent a bunch of money anyway.

faith in sports

The recent World Series just happened to have two teams with several players on each roster who are leaders within their clubhouse's faith community.

One of those players was Dodgers' veteran pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who is one of his team's more prominent faith voices in the Los Angeles locker room.

Today's entry in "Faith in Sports" spotlights Kershaw at the team's annual "Faith Night" at Chavez Ravine.

Thanks, as always, to our friends at Freestate Electrical for their support of #DMD and our Friday "Faith in Sports" segment.

Thursday November 28, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3749

popcorn for thanksgiving?

"Grateful" is the word of the day.

I hope you find time today to give thanks to God for all of the blessings He has bestowed upon you and your family over the years.

Once a year, this is what we do. We stop, give pause, and say "Thank you".

Father Rapisarda said something at Mass last Sunday that has really resonated with me this week.

"We think of Christmas as our biggest religious holiday," he said. "But really, Thanksgiving is right there with Christmas, because it's the one day we all gather to give thanks to God."

So, during your visits with family and friends today, just give thanks for all that you have. If you're alone today, please know God is right there with you. You're never alone.

There's a certain high school football game I'll be attending today with my family and friends. It starts at 10 am.

I helped lead a FCA morning school "huddle" yesterday at Calvert Hall in support of today's annual contest against the other team. It was particularly heartwarming to hear the team gather for our "popcorn prayer" at the end, where everyone just adds one "kernal" to the player as we go around the group.

"What are you thankful for?" was the question asked. Everyone chimed in with something.

"Family."

"Friends."

"Parents."

"Calvert Hall."

"Safety."

"Health."

"Forgiveness."

"Love."

"Coaches."

"God."

"Talent."

There were 75 or so kids in the room so I won't go through them all, but you get the picture.

Try the popcorn prayer at your Thanksgiving gathering today. One by one, let someone share what they're grateful for today.

Last but not least, I want to share this quick story from two summers ago at our FCA summer camp in Kutztown, PA.

The camp ran Sunday through Thursday. On day one, that night, a huge thunderstorm rolled through the Kutztown area and most of our Sunday evening outdoor activities were moved indoors.

What was odd about that was that Kutztown hadn't had significant rain in quite a long time. "Why now?" everyone wonderered.

That night at the opening prayer during the 7-9 pm chapel ran by an amazing pastor out of Las Vegas, Heiden Ratner, he led a prayer that reflected on the day's dangerous weather and asked God to provide safety for the campers as well as "abundant sunshine" for the rest of the week.

On Monday afternoon around 3 pm, another group of storms passed through the area and most of the 3 pm to 6 pm activites were also moved inside. Kutztown had lots of indoor space for us, but it was no secret that shifting things from outside to inside created operational stress and, honestly, took "something" away from the camp for the moment.

The same thing happened on Tuesday, except the storms came in just after 12 noon and stuck around for the better part of four hours.

At Tuesday night's chapel service, Ratner again asked for safety and sunshine during the prayer.

Wednesday the skies cleared and a full day was enjoyed by all. At that night's chapel, Ratner started off by saying, "Prayer works. And I can prove that works."

Everyone in the auditorium leaned in to listen.

"Earlier this week, on several occasions here, we all prayed for sunshine this week because that's what we wanted for the camp. It runs much more smoothly when the weather is perfect," he said.

"We prayed hard for that," he continued. "But on Monday and Tuesday, we didn't get it. You're probably thinking to yourself, 'God wasn't listening',"

"But God was listening to prayer," Ratner stated.

"Because on Sunday at all of the churches throughout this area, people who owns farms and make their living through that farm prayed for rain."

"Please God, we need rain here badly, so we can continue to grow our crops and feed our families."

"So," Ratner concluded. "God was listening to those prayers. He heard our prayers too, but He needed to take care of the farmers first. And He did. We got our abundant sunshine today and we'll get more tomorrow as well. But the farmers got the rain they prayed for."

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.

Prayer does work, in case you were wondering.

I hope you get the chance to share the "popcorn prayer" at your Thanksgiving dinner this afternoon.

Be thankful today, have an enjoyable celebration with those you're spending the day with and, of course ---- Go Hall!

Wednesday November 27, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3748

it's starting to take shape

If you had your choice of facing Greg Roman and Justin Herbert in Baltimore in the playoffs or Mike Tomlin and Russell Wilson in Baltimore in the playoffs, which one are you choosing?

Just wondering.

You can file today's entry under "Too Early To Tell" if you want, but by now I think it's pretty easy to put the pieces together and figure out what's going to happen with the Ravens in the post-season.

Barring some sort of multi-game injury situation with Lamar Jackson and/or a strange turn of events in Kansas City and Buffalo, the Ravens are going to finish as the #3 seed in the AFC come playoff time.

And before you say, "Slow down there, cowboy, there's a lot of football left", you should know NextGen stats (they're more nerdy than just your normal, run-of-the-mill stat nerds) has the Ravens at 99.2% to make the playoffs. I have them at 100%. NextGen has them at 99.2%. We're both pretty sure of it, in other words.

How it falls out there from there, though, is where the fun begins.

Let's look at the schedules and do the "pick 'em" game and you're going to be a little surprised -- and perhaps afraid, even -- at what is likely going to transpire for the Ravens in terms of their post-season road.

And so...here we go. You'll see an (h) indicating home games and an (a) indicating away games.

Kansas City (10-1) -- Las Vegas (h), LA Chargers (h), Cleveland (a), Houston (h), Pittsburgh (a), Denver (a)

Most likely scenario: They finish 14-3. Worst case: They get tripped up unexpectedly by Vegas or Cleveland and end up 13-4.

Buffalo (9-2) -- San Fran (h), LA Rams (a), Detroit (a), New England (h), NY Jets (h), Patriots (a)

Most likely scenario: They finish 13-4. Worst case: They somehow lose one they shouldn't and finish 12-5.

Pittsburgh (8-3) -- Cincinnati (a), Cleveland (h), Philadelphia (a), Baltimore (a), Kansas City (h), Cincinnati (h)

Most likely scenario: They finish 10-7. Best case: They somehow beat Philly, Baltimore or K.C. and maybe finish 11-6.

BALTIMORE (8-4) -- Philadelphia (h), NY Giants (a), Pittsburgh (h), Houston (a), Cleveland (h)

Most likely scenario: They finish 12-5. Worst case: They lose one they shouldn't and finish 11-6.

Houston (7-5) -- Jacksonville (a), Miami (h), Kansas City (a), Baltimore (h), Tennessee (a)

Most likely scenario: They finish 9-8. Best case: They beat either KC or Baltimore to finish 10-7.

Los Angeles Chargers (7-4) -- Atlanta (a), Kansas City (a), Tampa Bay (h), Denver (h), New England (a), Las Vegas (a)

Most likely scenario: They finish 10-7. Best case: They beat either Atlanta or KC and can finish 11-6.

Denver (7-5) -- Cleveland (h), Indianapolis (h), LA Chargers (a), at Cincinnati (a), Kansas City (h)

Most likely scenario: They finish 9-8. Best case: They beat KC on that final Sunday to finish 10-7.

Miami (5-6) -- Green Bay (a), NY Jets (h), Houston (a), San Fran (h), Cleveland (a), NY Jets (a)

Most likely scenario: They finish 8-9. Best case: They beat either Green Bay or Houston away to finish 9-8.

Cincinnati (4-7) -- Pittsburgh (h), Dallas (a), Tennessee (a), Cleveland (h), Denver (h), Pittsburgh (a)

Most likely scenario: They finish 8-9. Best case: They go on a 5-1 run to finish 9-8.

We'll go ahead and concede that Kansas City is going to hold serve and claim the #1 seed, either at 14-3 or 13-4. Barring something bizarre or unfortunate happening to Mahomes, they're going to have home ice throughout the playoffs.

It's likely that Buffalo loses two more and finishes 13-4. They could still snag that #1 seed from Kansas City at 12-4, but for now we're going to assume KC ends up at 14-3 and Buffalo finishes 13-4 to earn the #2 seed.

The Ravens are probably about an 85% bet to finish no worse than 12-5 and win the AFC North. But even if they somehow stub their toe twice, it's still almost a definite that they'll win the North at 11-6 as long as Pittsburgh doesn't beat the Ravens on 12/21 and also goes on to finish 11-6.

Houston is already pretty much locked in at the #4 seed if they finish 9-8 or even 8-9.

Now......it gets fun.

Pittsburgh and Los Angeles (Chargers) are both on a crash course to finish 10-7.

If that happens and if Denver finishes 9-8, Pittsburgh -- by virtue of a 20-10 win over the Chargers early in the season -- would be the #5 seed. They would face Houston in the first round of the playoffs.

The Los Angeles Chargers would finish as the #6 seed and travel to Baltimore in the first round.

And Denver would be the #7 seed and head to Buffalo.

So.......

Greg Roman, J.K. Dobbins, Gus Edwards ---- back in Baltimore.

Justin Herbert vs. Lamar Jackson.

All the pressure on the Ravens, at home, to beat a team they ran out of the gym in late November. On the road, no less.

Either way, Pittsburgh or Los Angeles, the Ravens would have their hands full.

Me?

I'd rather see Herbert and the Chargers.

There's a lot of football left, obviously. But Greg Roman coming back to Baltimore to face the fan base that enthusiastically helped run him out of town would be an interesting storyline indeed.

---

John Harbaugh has made somewhere around $100 million coaching football, so he most certainly doesn't need me -- or anyone else, really -- defending him.

His record speaks for itself. He's a football coach who has won a Super Bowl, been to 4 AFC Championship Games and will someday be enshrined in the NFL Hall of Fame.

For all I know, he might win one, two or three more Super Bowls with the plethora of talent the Ravens have at their disposal over the next few years.

I don't know what the future holds for John Harbaugh. But I know he doesn't need me to defend him.

Alas, I find myself doing it quite a bit.

Most of the time when I defend him, it involves silly stuff like "Harbaugh can't coach a lick" or "The game has passed him by". There are reasonable assessments to make about players and coaches and then there are outlandish, neanderthal observations like "Harbaugh can't coach a lick."

Yesterday, though, I encountered two Harbaugh haters (online) who took the game to an entirely new level.

I won't disclose either of them here because that's really not the point. Who they are isn't nearly as important as what they wrote.

Now, understand both of these dudes are Harbaugh haters. So you expect them to be anti-John. But you don't expect them to be completely off their rocker(s).

Here's the first installment:

Harbaugh could win a Super Bowl this year I still want him gone. Until he does better, and improves his same mistakes, Imma want him fired.

For those that don't know, "Imma" is online slang for "I'm going to want".

Read it again: Harbaugh could win a Super Bowl this year I still want him gone. Until he does better, and improves his same mistakes, Imma want him fired.

Amazing, right?

The goal of every team is to win the Super Bowl. Some, like, say, the Browns, Lions, Bills, Jaguars, Cardinals and Titans, have never won one of them. The Ravens have won two of them. John Harbaugh himself was the coach in one of those big game triumphs.

And this "fan" of the team says even if Harbaugh wins the Super Bowl this year, he believes he needs to be fired.

"Until he does better, and improves his same mistakes..."

Here's what's scary. People agreed with him.

Another internet maniac heard from: John Harbaugh has to go. He has no feel for the game. Going for it on 4th down from your own 16 yd line should not be celebrated. That gets you beat in playoffs. See 2019 titans choke job at home.

John Harbaugh called for a 4th and 1 gamble on his own 16 yard line. The play worked. A minute later, the Ravens scored a touchdown that pretty much changed the entire complexion of the game. The Ravens would go on to win a fairly significant road conference game that all but cemented another return to the playoffs.

If that moment, that decision and that outcome can't be celebrated, what CAN be celebrated?

And then how about this one? "That gets you beat in playoffs."

What if you tried it in the playoffs and it worked? What then? Or is it just 100%, without question, not going to work in the playoffs because you think it won't?

Plus -- you/we have NO idea at all if the Ravens would even go for it on 4th and 1 from their own 16 yard line in a playoff game. My guess is they wouldn't do that until it was inside of 2 minutes left in the game and they were losing 17-13 and had a "do or die" moment that forced them to go for it.

But using that premise -- "That gets you beat in playoffs" -- as a reason to be critical of doing it in week #12? Complete lunacy.

Oh, but wait. The author of that genius-quote had more where that came from.

I don't judge things by whether it works or not. Can't go for it every single 4th down. Sometimes you can. Sometimes you can't. I've watched Harbaugh's career. He plays Madden. Hasn't worked out in playoffs.

Wait, it worked on Monday night and you ARE judging it. But you're saying if it wouldn't have worked you wouldn't have said, "This guy is a joke. Who goes for it on 4th and 1 from their own 16 yard line?"

And then it gets followed up with "Sometimes you can. Sometimes you can't." So John decided 4th and 1 from the 16 on Monday night was one of those "sometimes you can" moments. And it worked. But your only judgement on that is "It won't work in the playoffs so we shouldn't have tried it against the Chargers." Right?

These people in Baltimore are IN-FREAKIN'-SANE.

What's in the water here in The Land of Pleasant Living?

I have said here on several occasions this year I think John's seat is getting warmer. I've also opined that if somehow, in January, the Broncos, Chargers or Steelers come into Baltimore and win that playoff opener that John might very well be asked to move upstairs to some sort of executive role.

But one thing I would NEVER say, is something as moronic as: "Even if they win the Super Bowl I think the guy has to go."

This is one crazy planet we live on, man.

Like I said, Harbaugh doesn't need me or anyone else to defend him.

I guess I'm just defending madness in general, maybe.

Tuesday November 26, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3747

you can't beat big brother

I can't imagine there will be many "fire John Harbaugh" calls into Charm City sports radio today. Not after that gem he produced last night in Los Angeles, anyway.

The older brother produced a masterclass and the younger brother took a whoopin', as Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry returned to the Jackson and Henry we know in a big 30-23 win over the Chargers last night.

Even those of us in Baltimore -- I mean, those people in Baltimore -- who had a Gus Edwards anytime TD were happy.

And if you took the "over" point total of 51.5 you were particularly thrilled with Edwards' late Chargers touchdown in the Monday Night showdown at the big ballpark in Inglewood, California.

The win was particularly huge for Baltimore, who all but sealed a playoff spot in the AFC, with just a few routine appointments left before teeing it up for real in mid-January.

The Ravens not only won to improve to 8-4, but they now own the tiebreaker over two potential AFC playoff opponents in Denver and the Chargers. Those two teams would have to finish with outright better records than the Ravens in order to jump over them for playoff seeding.

As David Letterman said to Joaquin Phoenix when Phoenix asked if he could someday return and sing rap music on the show: "That seems unlikely."

But far more important to the Ravens is their pursuit of the AFC North title.

Last night's victory shaves Pittsburgh's division lead to just a half-game. And the two teams meet in Baltimore on December 21, remember.

The Steelers (8-3) still have to play at Baltimore, at Philadelphia and at Cincinnati (all three are likely losses) and have Cincinnat, Cleveland and Kansas City at home. That looks and smells like 11-6 at a minimum and, given the pedestrian nature of Pittsburgh's offense, potentially even 10-7.

I won't use the word "cakewalk" to describe the Ravens journey to the top of the division, but it's something in between cakewalk and "just keep your hands on the steering wheel".

We all know what the Ravens do to NFC teams, so their next two games (home vs. Philly and at NYG after a December 8 bye) are about as in the bag as, say, Penn State playing Maryland in football. That gets the Ravens to 10-4.

They then finish up with Pittsburgh (home), Houston (away) and Cleveland (home).

Even one stumble in their last 5 games should be plenty good enough for the division title and, honestly, even a final record of 11-6 will probably do it, as long as one of their final three wins of the season comes against Pittsburgh next month.

Last night, as you can now see, was huge for the Ravens.

It was also a huge night for John Harbaugh, who continued his mastery over his little brother in NFL games that matter (now 3-0).

Harbaugh, John that is, did some crazy stuff last night, like going for it on 4th and 1 from his own 16 yard line late in the second quarter.

He went for it on 4th down later in the game in well, albeit in more conventional situations on the field, but the sequence at the end of the first half turned what might have been a 10-7 deficit into a 14-13 lead at intermission after Lamar Jackson rolled through the Chargers defense like a hot knife through butter.

If Mark Andrews gets stopped on that 4th and 1 play and the Chargers take a 17-7 lead into the locker room and go on to somehow win the game from there, Harbs would have been roasted without end on radio and the internet today.

I mean, what maniac goes for it on 4th and 1 on their own 16 yard line in a 10-7 game? On the road, no less?

John Harbaugh, that's who.

For the record, in case that matters, I was dead-red against going for it there. When Lamar let the clock reach the 2 minute warning and the offense convened on the sideline, I assumed ESPN would return from commercial and the punter would be standing back near end zone preparing to kick to L.A.

I was beyond shocked when the Ravens went for it.

But it all turned to gold from there as Baltimore picked up the first down and then waltzed down the field for the go-ahead touchdown.

Predictably, of course, the Chargers also buzzed right through the Baltimore defense after Lamar found Rashod Bateman on that long TD throw to make it 14-10, but the damage was done at the message was sent at that point.

John Harbaugh was playing to win and he wasn't going to let his little brother get in the way of that.

And Lamar Jackson wasn't going to lose to Justin Herbert, either.

Oh, and for one half, at least, Zach Orr put together a defensive scheme that, at the very least, held serve.

I know "holding serve" probably won't work in the post-season against guys like Pat Mahomes and Josh Allen, but, baby steps, ya know?

But any road win in the NFL is good and beating the Chargers in LA when a playoff spot could be part of the outcome is even more important. Orr's defense didn't look all that sharp on the game's first series, but things settled down well thereafter.

Oh, and the Ravens won the game last night without Roquan Smith.

Maybe there's something to that as well. But we'll dive in on that one later this week, I suppose.

On a side note, I thought ESPN did a nice job of not pounding the Harbaugh vs. Harbaugh theme down our throats.

Sure, they made mention of it.

Yes, they asked each coach about it during the pre-game interview.

They had to do that. They're brothers coaching against one another in a NFL game.

But overall, I thought ESPN's coverage of the family battle was tempered. And I, for one, appreciated that.

Color analyst Troy Aikman spent a lot of the night whining about calls that didn't go the Chargers' way, but I'm assuming he did some of that because he's hoping the game evens out to keep people locked in and interested in seeing the outcome.

Oddly enough, Joe Buck even casually referenced penalties very early in the game, saying something like, "One thing about these Monday night games that you know you're going to see. And that's a lot of flags on the field."

The very next play...there was a penalty.

Aikman then followed up with a quick jab at the flag-happy officials as well. "Yeah, the laundry tends to come out on Monday night."

I was surprised to hear that from both of them. I assume the NFL office was, as well.

When the two broadcasters on a national TV game are picking on the refs in the first quarter, you know you have a penalty problem.

And, yes, there might have been a call or two that went against L.A. last night. Of course that happened. It happens to every team in every game.

But no call in the entire 60 minutes was worse than the phantom "leg whip" flag against Patrick Ricard on the first offensive series of the night for Baltimore.

These refs, man. It's always something.

---

I did want to do a little "clean up in aisle 5" from yesterday's commentary that I offered here about the Big Ten conference and Maryland's move a decade ago.

A number of people chimed in here and I got an e-mail or two from folks laying into me for "piling on" about the lack of enthusiasm for the Big Ten.

As I told Larry who e-mailed me, "Piling on is an American specialty. It's one of our traits. Just look at the recent election."

Alas, I didn't think I "piled on" at all. I just brought out some facts about the Big Ten and also offered an opinion on what I see from the conference as a whole in its two most meaningful sports; football and basketball.

And I can't repeat this enough even though we have some Flyers fans here who can't read it and absorb it: The financial deal was too tough for Maryland to pass up when they jumped ship to the Big Ten. I understand why they joined the conference.

Best of all, there were absolutely no "performance mandates" as part of the deal. It's not like the Big Ten said, "We'll give you $52 million annually but you have to promise us your men's football team will be great."

Maryland gets that money every year as part of their conference affiliation and neither football or basketball have been any good -- really -- since the move to the Big Ten.

Sure, men's lacrosse has won a national title (maybe two? I'm not sure) and men's soccer is always good and there might even be a women's sport that is upper echelon in the Big Ten, but the concern level for those sports is a "4" and the concern level for football and basketball is more like an 8.5.

Maryland gets more than $50 million a year for having a lousy football program and halfway decent men's basketball program. It's good work if you can get it.

Anyway -- my commentary yesterday was far more intended to be about the Big Ten than the ACC.

The Big Ten is just not exciting.

It might be exciting to people in Columbus and East Lansing and Ann Arbor. If so, that's great.

But I find it incredibly boring and stale.

And based on the the crowds at sporting events I follow, no one else in College Park is all lathered up about the Big Ten, either.

Your mileage may vary on this opinion of mine that the Big Ten is a snoozefest.

You might love it.

I don't know what Maryland's athletic department thinks about the Big Ten, but I know the school's finance department loves it.

And in the end, the money is all that matters.

We, as consumers, either pay the price to support it or we don't.

Monday November 25, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3746

revenge games are scary

All things being equal, I don't think Lamar Jackson and the Ravens would lose this game tonight against the Chargers.

Lamar almost always wins these kind of national-TV-showdowns against teams he and the Ravens don't see all that often.

Earlier this year, for example, they throttled the Buccaneers down in Tampa Bay.

They handled the Rams in LA a few years ago on a Monday night by something like 90-10.

As I recall, they even beat the Chargers in L.A. last season, 20-10.

Lamar just doesn't lose -- generally -- to inferior teams, even on the road.

Yes, I'm aware he lost to the Raiders and Browns this season. But actually, those were games Harbaugh lost, not Lamar, remember?

So, yes, I'm fairly confident about tonight's tilt in L.A.

Except for, you know, the whole "revenge factor" that's in play.

I get nervous when a game has a distinct aroma of revenge in the air.

You saw it last weekend in Pittsburgh. Patrick Queen and DeShon Elliott both got the last laugh.

Tonight it's three guys licking their chops.

Greg Roman.

Gus Edwards.

J.K. Dobbins.

All three kicked to the curb by the Ravens at some point.

And, as fate would have it, they get their chance tonight to prove John Harbaugh was wrong.

Roman, without question, is the one who has the biggest revenge appetite. Not only did Harbaugh give him the boot after the 2022 season, but G-Ro took most of the heat for the team's inability to get over the hump in the post-season.

It must have been extra-enjoyable for Roman to watch Todd Monken, Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore offense fizzle and flatline in last January's AFC Championship Game. As if that wasn't revenge enough, tonight he gets to have his own hand in the Ravens losing an important game.

And while it's true Roman was pretty much "fired", Edwards and Dobbins were both just quietly asked to turn in their keys and not make a big fuss about things as they exited the building.

That they both landed with Roman in L.A. isn't a great surprise. He knows what he can get out of both of them and, so far at least, his plan is working out well for the two estwhile members of John Harbaugh's team.

But they'll enter tonight's game with the same mindset as Greg Roman. They know, when push came to shove, the Ravens didn't want their services any longer.

There's a lot at stake tonight. Baltimore comes in at 7-4. The Chargers are 7-3.

I don't think L.A. is all that good, honestly. But if they win tonight and move to 8-3, they're in the driver's seat to secure the top wild card spot and the 5th seed in the AFC playoffs.

You play the teams they put in front of you, of course, but a quick inspection of the Chargers' schedule shows they haven't exactly been clobbering the elite of the NFL in 2024.

Their 7 wins are against a half dozen of the league's doormats; Tennessee, Las Vegas, Cleveland, New Orleans, Cincinnati and Carolina.

They have one "decent" win, really, and that came at Denver.

Their losses were to Arizona, Pittsburgh and Kansas City.

A win over the Ravens would be their best victory of the season to date, without question.

Oh, there's also a little something about the other coach, also named Harbaugh. As in, Jim, John's younger brother.

This one tonight is very interesting for those two. Jim's completely nuts and out of control and John is hyper-competitive and doesn't like losing to anyone he considers inferior or "under" him.

Jim doesn't want to lose to John.

John can't stand the thought of going all the way out there to California and getting roasted on the field and then again during the handshake afterwards.

There's a great story that John tells about a summer touch football game at the vacation property the Harbaugh family owns in South Carolina.

The entire family (brothers, sister, parents) all convene at the house every July for two weeks of R&R. Along the way, the afternoons and early evenings always transform into some kind of athletic competition, whether it's basketball, cornhole, touch football and so on.

In the summer of 2013 while at the vacation property, John picked "his team" and Jim picked "his team" for a game of football.

As John pieces together the story, it all starts off innocently with laughs and giggles, but quickly turns into something more competitive as each brother realizes the other brother really wants to win.

It gets a little testy at times.

In the end, Jim throws a game-winning touchdown pass and everyone shakes hands and heads off to gather their favorite adult beverage.

John stops at the cooler to grab a drink when Jim approaches from behind and smacks him on the rear end.

"When's the last time you beat me at anything, big bro?" Jim says with a snicker as he marches away with his right index finger in the air.

(Yes, Jim either forgot, on purpose, or accidentally forgot about an important football game between the two that took place back in mid-February, 2013.)

When those two compete at anything, Jim always has a zinger waiting.

So John, for sure, doesn't want to have to deal with losing and hearing his brother's snark at midfield afterwards.

For the Ravens, a win tonight keeps them firmly on the heels of the Steelers in the AFC North. Baltimore moves to 8-4 with a victory while Pittsburgh now sits at 8-3.

But a defeat in Los Angeles not only drops the Ravens to 8-5, it also means they can likely only lose one more game in the regular season if they have any hope of capturing the division title.

A loss also means the Chargers own the head-to-head in case of a tie between the two teams at the end of the regular season.

And it's also a conference loss for the Ravens, which could matter with other tiebreakers in January.

This isn't a "must win", "crucial" game for John Harbaugh's team, but it's certainly an important one if they want to win the division title.

The Ravens schedule plays out favorably from here on in: They get Philadelphia in Baltimore next Sunday and based on Lamar's career record vs. NFC teams, that one is as close to a guaranteed win as you can get without having the "W" in the standings.

Two weeks later they're in New York to beat the Giants 33-10.

Then it's the Steelers (home), Texans (away) and Browns (home) to close out the regular season.

A win tonight and Baltimore still has a very realistic shot at finishing 12-5, with 13-4 still very much a possibility.

And John Harbaugh gets the last laugh instead of Greg Roman.

If there's anyone that Baltimore football fans don't want getting the last laugh tonight, it's definitely Greg Roman.

So...what happens?

I think this one's a barnburner.

L.A.'s defense is pretty good, actually. I don't think the Ravens are going to run amok on them this evening. I see something in the 20's for both teams, probably.

The key to the game will come in two areas: What the Ravens do on 3rd down on offense and how many 15 yards-plus offensive plays Lamar can generate.

If Lamar can put together 6 or more plays of 15-plus yards, the Ravens should have enough to win.

If they're below 35% in 3rd down efficiency, that's not good.

The Ravens are currently 3rd in the league on 3rd down conversions at 46.15%.

If they're in the 40% or better range tonight, that's huge.

If they dip below 35%, though, that could spell trouble.

Big plays on offense and 3rd down success. That's how the Ravens win.

I'm going with 7 plays of 15 yards or more and 38.50% on 3rd down.

It's 17-14 Ravens at the half.

Chargers take a 23-20 lead with 8 minutes left in the game.

The Ravens tie it at 23-23 with 3:50 remaining, then force the Chargers to punt after one quick first down and then a three and out.

Lamar and the offense get the ball back on their own 17 yard line with 1:54 remaining in the game.

Jackson hits Zay Flowers on a huge 3rd and 8 play and then finds Mark Andrews near midfield for a big gain.

Lamar scrambles for 11 yards on first down, then hits Justice Hill with a quick dump off that nets another 8 yards.

After two running plays go nowhere, Lamar picks up 6 yards on 3rd down and gets the ball down to the L.A. 30 yard line with 6 seconds remaining.

Justin Tucker's last second 47 yard field goal splits the uprights and the Ravens head home with a huge 26-23 win.

---

I noticed some banter back and forth in the Comments section about Maryland being in the ACC vs. Maryland being in the Big Ten.

And I agree, any lengthy lament about Maryland being in the ACC is just eye wash at this point. They're not in the ACC and they're not going to be in the ACC and that's pretty much it.

But I do think it's definitely worth asking, "Is Maryland athletics better off in the Big Ten than they were in the ACC?"

That's a very fair water cooler topic to discuss.

There are two undeniable elements to any discussion about Maryland and the Big Ten.

Here they are:

Money matters and Maryland made a lot of it by leaving the ACC and joining the Big Ten.

The Big Ten is a nothing-burger in these parts. Other than the athletic program making a lot of money, no one in the DMV has seen a tangible benefit from the Terps now playing in the Big Ten. It doesn't stink, but the Big Ten does need some cologne.

From a financial standpoint, it most certainly was a reasonable, sensible move. Whether you believe the underground stories about the ACC stepping forward to match the (then) $52 million annual payment that the Big Ten gave Maryland is your call.

But Maryland gets $52 million (plus) from the Big Ten in exchange for being OK at basketball and lousy at football. I know there are other sports that (sort of) matter, like men's soccer and lacrosse and women's basketball. But all in all, the only things that really matter in College Park are men's basketball and football.

So, yes, it's undeniable that the financial end of the move to the Big Ten was prudent for Maryland.

It's also undeniable that the Big Ten is boring.

And whether ACC football is worth your time is certainly worthy of a discussion, but comparing ACC basketball to Big Ten basketball is like comparing Elton John with Vanessa Carlton.

One is an all-world, all-time rock star and the other had one good song.

Big Ten basketball is about as exciting as tying your shoes.

I don't even know that comparing ACC football to Big Ten football matters, because Maryland can't compete in the Big Ten. In the ACC, they'd get drummed every year by the likes of Clemson and Miami, I suppose, but other than that, they'd compete with most of the other ne'er do wells in the conference.

Football does matter, yes. But it also doesn't matter. Maryland isn't EVER going to be a Big Ten stalwart. Like, never, never.

And Big Ten basketball is pretty much akin to watching an MMA fight. Someone's leaving the court bloody and it's almost a certainty one of the two competitors is going to spend most of the night clutching, grabbing and throwing elbows.

If you like 62-57 and 58-54 games, the Big Ten is for you. As I see it, it's a borefest.

I'm not even sure the student body likes the Big Ten. Last year, in particular, there were a number of conference games where the crowds were shockingly sparse. When the students are away on a break of some kind, the place feels bare. But there were occasions a season ago where school was in session and the kids said, "Nah, I'm not walking 400 yards to watch the game."

That might say more about kids these days than Big Ten basketball, mind you. But any idea that the students themselves are overjoyed about Maryland playing the likes of Northwestern, Iowa, Purdue and Rutgers in basketball is laughable.

So, yes, Maryland did themselves plenty well financially making the move. And, frankly, that might be all that matters to them. And, if so, that's fine.

But no one in this area cares at all about the Big Ten.

That is, unless you went to Penn State, which a lot of folks in the DMV did.

Other than that, the Big Ten is the Big Snooze in these parts.

Sunday November 24, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3745

a crazy day

Most of you who visit here know I'm not really a huge college football fan.

I'm certainly not "anti-college football" or anything like that. Not in the least. If, for example, the Army-Navy game took place in Baltimore every December, I'd probably be a regular attendee at that event.

But college football, well, really college sports, in general, has soured on me over the last decade. But I'm not here today to talk about why it's dumb to pay the quarterback or shooting guard $200,000 to play for your university.

I'm just here to point out two crazy things that happened yesterday, in case you didn't see them yourself.

And, no, one of those "things" wasn't Maryland falling out of bowl contention with a dismal 29-13 home loss to Iowa.

I don't think there was anything particularly crazy about that one, except perhaps for the fact that Iowa scored 29 points and somehow only threw for 76 yards on the day. 76 yards.

Oh, right, I forgot to mention: Iowa gained 268 yards on the ground in College Park yesterday.

I assume Mike Locksley knows this, but the Terps need a little help defending the run.

They announced a crowd of just over 30,000 for the game, which, from what I was told by someone who was there, was probably only off by about 18,000 people. I mean, colleges announce insanely inflated crowds all the time. It's just what they do. No one holds their feet to the fire about it so they just publish whatever number they want.

My friend sent me a picture of the crowd in the first quarter and there were far more empty seats than seats filled.

"How many people are there?" I asked.

"10K," he replied. Maybe 12K or 13K at the most. It's empty."

He also complained about the wind and said, "It's not great tailgating weather so it's also not great football watching weather".

Football fans, huh?

Anyway, the Terps are headed for a 4-8 season after they get dismantled 48-10 next Saturday afternoon at Penn State.

I assume they can't fire Locksley for financial reasons, which begs the obvious question.

Why would you sign a (basically) middle-of-the-road coach to such a crazy contract that you can't extricate yourself from it if things don't go well?

Locksley reportedly makes $6 million a year to coach at Maryland.

You're probably thinking there's no way Maryland pays their football coach $6 million annually when their men's basketball coach "only" makes $4 million per-season.

I'm thinking the same thing. I mean, paying the basketball coach who hasn't won anything of note $4 million sounds nuts to me, but it is what it is. But the football guy getting $6 million and the basketball guy getting $4 million? Weird.

Anyway, Locksley's deal runs through the 2027 season. So you have three years (and $18 million) left if you decide to cut ties with him.

I don't follow Maryland football anywhere near closely enough to tell you what's wrong with them. I assume they don't have enough good-to-great football players down there to compete with the big boys or, apparently, even the medium boys like Iowa, Minnesota and Rutgers.

But when you're packing 12,000 or so into the stadium for a Big Ten football game, something needs to be done.

Either start paying more for players or start paying less. Either go for it and try to beat everyone's brains in and pack the stadium or pack it in and become a conference doormat and spend your football money on other men's and women's sports.

Being right in the middle of the pack is boring, as displayed by yesterday's "crowd".

But anyway...

I didn't really intend to write about Maryland today. Sorry for getting off on a tangent there.

In New Jersey yesterday, Rutgers hosted Illinois in a Big Ten clash.

It was 31-30, Rutgers, when Illinois was faced with a 4th and 13 situation with 14 seconds remaining. They could either try to make the first down and keep the game alive or attempt a 58 yard field goal into the wind.

There was almost zero chance their kicker was making the field goal. But it's either make a 4th and 13 play or make a 58 yard field goal. Both are improbable.

Predictably, because leaving a time out "on the field" would have meant getting beat up on the internet, Rutgers coach Greg Schiano called a time out to "freeze" the kicker.

The ball, however, got snapped, and the kid tried the kick anyway, missing badly to the left with nowhere near enough distance to make it.

During the time out, Illinois revisited the situation. The kicker probably said, "Coach, I'm a warrior and all and I'll try any kick from anywhere, but I can't make that kick in these conditions."

The coach agreed.

So Illinois decided to go for it on 4th and 13.

And, well, you probably know what happened next.

Illinois threw a game-winning touchdown pass with 4 seconds left.

All Schiano had to do was let the kid try the 58 yarder into the wind.

But coaches gotta coach. Or, try to, at least.

I sure hope you didn't have Rutgers on the moneyline.

There was, believe it or not, an even wackier (not sure "wackier" is a word, by the way) scenario that took place in Tempe, Arizona on Saturday.

Arizona State led Brigham Young, 28-23, and on 4th and short from midfield with six seconds left, they decided to simply throw the ball as high into the air as they could, hoping all six seconds would tick off.

ASU's quarterback did as he was told and it looked like all of the time expired when the ball finally hit the ground.

The clock read 00:00 and the ASU bench emptied onto the field, led by their maniac-head-coach, Kenny Dillingham, who was out there jumping around like Kevin Bacon in Footloose after the (apparent) victory.

The fans stormed the field, joining in with the ASU team. It was bedlam. For reasons no one knows, they decided to try to tear down the goalpost.

It's not like they beat Oregon. Sure, BYU was #14 in the country, but....whatever.

Anyway, the officials gathered to look at the replay while the TV crew tried to interview Billingham at midfield. As the interview commenced, he realized they were talking about extending the game by one more play.

Right there, on live TV, he launched into an expletive-laden tirade like a 7th grader who just found out recess was being cut short because everyone in that class failed their pre-Algebra test.

"This is effing b*** s***!" he yelled at the refs.

"There's no way! There's no way! B*** s***!!" he continued.

Alas, there was a way. One second was left on the clock.

Now they had to get the kids off the field and the two teams had to return for one more play.

No, nothing crazy happened there. BYU didn't throw a touchdown, which would have been complete poetic justice given how the ASU coach behaved at the (apparent) end of regulation.

The football gods can be cruel, but they weren't that cruel. BYU didn't score and ASU still won.

But that idiot coach...

What a buffoon. The coach is supposed to be the person who doesn't lose emotional control. He or she is the one who proceeds with an even temper and cool demeanor.

The coach should be the example for the kids to follow.

It's a shame the football gods didn't intervene on that final Brigham Young throw.

They must have been too busy taking care of Greg Schiano and Rutgers.

	WILL JACKSON and his weekly NFL picks
Will Jackson will be here every Sunday during the NFL season with his thoughts on games and prop bets that will hopefully yield positive results for you.

Hello everyone, I am back after a family vacation last week.

I am very much on the Ravens side tomorrow night in L.A. I think they bounce back with a pretty easy win and the over hitting in the total of 50.5.

Lamar doesn't lose two in a row very often and his record on national TV is very good. I'm going with Ravens 30 - Chargers 23.

As for today, I have six game picks and ten prop bets for you.

Game Picks

Take the Vikings (-3.5) at Chicago

Take the Colts (+7.5) at home vs. Detroit

Take the Patriots (+7.5) at Miami

Take Tampa Bay (-6) at NY Giants.

Parlay the Tampa Bay/NY under 40.5 with the Raiders/Broncos under 41.5.

Parlay the Packers (-5) vs. San Fran with the Cardinals (-1) at Seattle.

Prop Bets

Jared Goff over 203.5 yards passing

Jared Goff over 1.5 passing touchdowns

Tyreek Hill over 89.5 yards of receiving yards

Tyreek Hill over 0.5 touchdown receptions

Jordan Love over 203.5 yards passing

Jordan Love over 0.5 passing touchdowns

A defensive score in the Raiders/Broncos game

Patrick Mahomes with at least one touchdown throw in each half vs. Carolina

Jayden Daniels at least one interception in DC/Dallas game

Saquon Barkley over 114.5 yards rushing in Phil/LA Rams game

Saturday November 23, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3744

so...what's the solution?

I got into a friendly back-and-back forth with "Dustin" on Twitter yesterday.

It didn't last long, actually, which I appreciated very much.

Occasionally on that forum, someone will come along with a question or challenge your way of thinking and it just becomes a conversation that never ends.

"Yeah? But what about..."

Then you answer that and another one comes your way.

"OK. But what about..."

Eventually, the only way to end that kind of debate is to say, "Look, I said (wrote) what I said. I'm not changing my opinion no matter how hard you work at getting me to and I'm not at all interested in changing your opinion, either."

Things usually simmer down after that.

Much to my appreciation, Dustin asked a question, I gave my answer, and that was that.

Your answer to his question might be different than mine was, which is why I'm presenting it to you today. Have at it, as Brian Billick was fond of saying.

In the aftermath of Thursday night's debacle in Cleveland where Mike Tomlin (and Kevin Stefanski) was guilty of several coaching blunders in the game's final two minutes, I, along with a gazillion people in Pittsburgh, raked him over the coals.

I didn't say Tomlin "lost them the game", but his decision to accept a 5-yard penalty on 3rd and 2 in a driving snowstorm certainly helped gift the Browns a memorable win.

Dustin is a noted and open Harbaugh hater. In short, he wants him fired. He's not the only one in town who thinks that way, of course. Check the internet after any Ravens loss and Harbaugh is almost always in the crosshairs and at the center of the blame.

And, so, Dustin came around to me with a question about Harbaugh and the Ravens in general.

"What's your solution to beating teams like Pittsburgh and Kansas City? People want Harbaugh fired in part because they feel he gets outcoached in those games."

That's certainly a fair question. What's the solution to beating the Steelers and Chiefs?

I didn't point this out to Dustin because it really wasn't germane to that question, but the Ravens have been better than Pittsburgh -- way better, actually -- throughout the Lamar era.

Yes, yes, I realize Pittsburgh is 8-1 vs. Baltimore over the last five seasons. I get that. There have been several scheduling "quirks", let's call them, that have contributed to that lopsided record. Twice, at least, Pittsburgh has come into Baltimore on the final Sunday of the regular season with the Ravens needing nothing but to stay healthy and the Steelers playing for their lives.

There have been other games in recent history where Lamar didn't play and the quarterbacking duties fell to someone far less capable.

I'm not trying to gloss over the fact that Pittsburgh is 8-1 vs. the Ravens since 2020. I'm merely saying only a handful of those games were played with all things being equal, that's all.

And over the last five seasons, the Ravens have been better than Pittsburgh. At least that's what the season records say, even if 8-1 doesn't say that.

The Ravens and Chiefs don't meet nearly as often, obviously, but the last two meetings have gone Kansas City's way, including last January's AFC title game in Baltimore. We're all trying to forget that one, of course.

Alas, the question still looms. "What's the solution?"

Here's what I told Dustin.

My opinion is, in the games they lose (to anyone, but particularly to K.C. and Pittsburgh), they should stop doing these things:

* fumbling the ball

* missing field goals

* hitting the QB late

* getting other dumb penalties

* dropping easy interceptions

But that's just me.

I didn't add "avoid suspect officiating" because I think both teams tend to get jobbed at some point in almost every game (see: end of recent Bengals-Ravens in Baltimore) so that's sorta-kinda a wash, in my opinion. But the Ravens certainly do tend to get more "odd flags" thrown their way, it seems.

But let's not bring up the refs. That's sour grapes, most of the time.

The other things, though, are precisely how the Ravens lose to anyone, including Pittsburgh and K.C. this year.

Oh, and let's not forget that Baltimore might have defeated the Chiefs on opening Thursday in September if Isaiah Likely's toe doesn't scrape the end line on the last second TD throw/attempt and then the Ravens connect on the 2 point conversion.

I didn't even list "have smaller feet" in my explanation above. If Likely's toe stays in bounds, the Ravens might very well win there instead of losing.<

But in that loss, missed field goals and other mistakes contributed to the game even being decided by a toe.

One important distinction here is this: Harbaugh is not perfect. No coach is, in fact. He definitely makes mistakes and (mis)calculated blunders the same way Tomlin did on Thursday night.

But there's no way a coach ever deserves the blame for a loss in the same way he never deserves full credit for a win.

What's killed the Ravens in their four losses this year are those things I listed above.

Those games are filled with "if moments", of course.

"If" Tucker makes those two field goals against the Steelers.

"If Kyle Hamilton secures that easy interception in the final minute in Cleveland."

"If so and so doesn't hit the quarterback in the head and turn a 3-and-7 incompletion into a 1st and 10 situation."

"If Zay Flowers doesn't fumble the ball on the goalline in the 4th quarter of the AFC Championship Game."

That's my solution to beating the Chiefs and Steelers when it matters.

Stop doing those dumb things.

You could also say that Harbaugh going for two points in the season opener would have been "dumb". I was OK with it, but it's a huge risk because you're tying yourself to one play instead of kicking the extra point and moving into overtime.

In all, the solution for the Ravens to beat the Chiefs and Steelers is to score one more point than they do.

And to do that, I'm not sure what John Harbaugh does in a game -- or Todd Monken does, for that matter -- will ever be more important than Lamar or a running back holding onto the ball, Van Noy not getting a stupid penalty, Hamilton not dropping an interception or the kicker missing a field goal or two in a close game.

That's my solution.

And you say??

Friday November 22, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3743

steelers gonna steelers (?)

Now that, last night, was a football game.

I realize you can't dial up that kind of weather every Thursday night and the Steelers and Browns can't lock horns every game, either, but that might have been one of the most compelling Thursday night games I've ever seen.

"Most compelling" and "Thursday night games" don't often collide in the same sentence. They're usually stinkers. Last night's was....wait for it....a snowy instant classic.

And despite trying to lose, the Browns actually won, which is great news for the Ravens and shifts things into their favor a bit as long as they go to L.A. on Monday night and beat the Chargers.

We'll get back to that in a minute.

The game itself was filled with drama and big moments, along with a blinding snow that all of us enjoyed playing in back in our childhood.

Cleveland won, 24-19, but not before Mike Tomlin chipped in with one of the all-time great coaching flubs in the Steelers-Browns rivalry.

With 2 minutes left in the game and the Steelers up 19-18, the Browns failed to pick up a first down on 3rd and 2 from the Steelers 25 yard line and, to make it worse, were flagged for a 5-yard penalty.

There was almost no chance the Browns would have attempted a 42 yard field goal in the snow, so Mike Tomlin had a choice: Take the 5 yards and give Cleveland 3rd and 7 or decline the penalty and force the Browns into a 4th and 2 scenario where the game pretty much would come down to one play.

At first, Tomlin declined the penalty, which was the right thing to do.

You decline the flag, force Cleveland into a 4th and 2, and anything can happen there. Oh, and they almost certainly wouldn't have done anything risky or of "big play variety".

For reasons only he knows, Tomlin then changed his mind and accepted the 5 yards.

On the 3rd and 7 play, Jameis Winston hit Jerry Jeudy on a 15-yard completion and that started a late Browns rally and led to their go-ahead touchdown with 57 seconds remaining.

People in Pittsburgh were howling afterwards about the decision to accept the penalty.

#Tomlingonnatomlin

Russell Wilson then had a brain fart of his own on the very first play from scrimmage when the Steelers started their final drive, completing a 9 yard pass that took 21 seconds off the clock. Rather than immediately call time out upon the completion and leaving himself roughly 44 seconds, Wilson let the clock roll down to 29 seconds before throwing an incomplete pass on 2nd and 1.

#Wilsongonnawilson

And so, that's how it ended, with Pittsburgh losing a huge division game and letting Jameis Winston beat them.

Yes, the same Jameis Winston that beat the Ravens and then got run out of the gym the following week at home by the Chargers, who never beat anyone on the road.

Speaking of Winston, he was treated like a cult figure by the Amazon Prime crew before, during and after last night's game.

I like Winston, and it's not just because of his effusive praise for God anytime a microphone is placed in front of him.

I do love it when an athlete who could be talking about themselves instead gives the spotlight to God. That's a true person of faith right there.

I've grown fond of Winston because he displays an incredible sense of being thankful that he's part of the sport he obviously loves. When he talks about football, his eyes light up and a smile comes across his face that is both genuine and warm.

"I'm just happy to be here," is pretty much what Winston is saying. And he really means it.

And, yes, I'm also fond of Winston helping the Ravens by taking care of the Steelers on the field.

Pittsburgh falls to 8-3 on the season with last night's loss and with a little help later on this season, the Ravens can snag that AFC North from the Steelers.

Mike Tomlin's team is now 1-1 in the division. Their remaining games are (in no particular order), at Philadelphia, vs. Cincinnati and at Cincinnati, vs. Cleveland, vs. Kansas City and at Baltimore.

The Ravens need the Steelers to lose at least 3 of those and it would be a huge help if one of those three came against the Bengals/Browns and one of those three was against the Ravens in Baltimore on December 21.

If the Ravens beat Pittsburgh in Baltimore and the Steelers also lose one more division game, then all the Ravens would need to do to sew up the North (assuming the Ravens and Steelers finish tied at 11-6) would be to beat Cleveland on the final day of the regular season in Baltimore.

Beating the Steelers and Cleveland would give the Ravens a 4-2 division record, which means Pittsburgh gets relegated to the wild card spot and the Ravens win the division.

Yes, I know there's a lot of football left to be played. I'm well aware. And this Monday's game in L.A. is huge for the Ravens in terms of their ability to finish no worse than 11-6, as they still have the Eagles, Giants (automatic win) and Texans in addition to Pittsburgh and Cleveland.

If January rolls around and the Steelers wind up coughing up the division title to the Ravens via that division tiebreaker, last night's gift-on-a-silver-platter in Cleveland will come back to haunt them in a big way.

It's one thing to watch an instant classic like we saw last night.

It's another thing for the whole thing to unfold in a driving, big-flakes-snowstorm that entirely covers the field.

It's something else, entirely, for the Ravens' arch-rival to spew up the game like a 2 year old who doesn't like their sweet potatoes.

The NFL is one crazy reality show, man.

It puts the MTV's "Real World" to shame.

You never have any idea what's going to happen next.

Someone I know had an incredible turn of (bad) luck last night with NHL wagers. It ranks as an all-time bad beat.

He played the following players to score at least one goal: Reinhart (Fla), Bratt (NJ), Point (TB), Kyrou (StL), Draisaitl (ED) and Pastrnak (BOS). The investment was $5. The return would have been $663 had all six scored a goal.

Alas, five of the six scored.

Well, actually, all six scored.

The first five I listed connected early in their games. Pastrnak and the Bruins were locked in a low-scoring 1-0 tussle with visiting Utah when Pastrnak scored into the empty net to make it 2-0.

Ballgame.

$663 -- just in time for Christmas.

Everyone celebrated on the ice in Boston and "some people" in Baltimore celebrated, too.

The officials then watched the replay.

Was Pastrnak's stick above his shoulder when he knocked the puck in the net?

One minute later...

The scoreboard changed from 2-0 to 1-0 and the goal was disallowed.

Utah left their net empty but Pastrnak didn't score a second time.

$663 went to $0 in the blink of an eye.

I feel bad for my friend.

Sports, huh?

faith in sports

OK, so we're doing something different today. It's just for today.

I almost never post a video that's 18 minutes in length. I want "Faith in Sports" to be almost like a church sermon. 10 minutes and on we go.

This one, though, is worth all 18 minutes. And it features Texans QB C.J. Stroud, whom the Ravens will face on Christmas Day in Houston.

Stroud is an incredible young man, in addition to becoming a star in the NFL.

If you don't know who Stroud is, watch the video, please. But be warned: You're going to wind up liking Stroud in a new way if you watch it.

Thanks, as always, to our friends at Freestate Electrical for their continued support of #DMD and our "Faith in Sports" segment here every Friday.

Thursday November 21, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3742

ok, how about the two best things you've seen?

The NFL Hall of Fame discourse has officially commenced with the publication of the semifinalists list on Wednesday.

Twenty five names are on the list that was released yesterday. 10 have to be removed (via voting of the Hall of Fame selection committee) by mid-December.

Two longtime Ravens are included this year: Terrell Suggs and Marshal Yanda.

Here's the full-list.

Eric Allen, Jared Allen, Willie Anderson, Anquan Boldin, Jahri Evans, Antonio Gates, James Harrison, Rodney Harrison, Torry Holt, Luke Kuechly, Eli Manning, Robert Mathis, Steve Smith Sr., Terrell Suggs, Fred Taylor, Earl Thomas, Adam Vinatieri, Hines Ward, Ricky Watters, Reggie Wayne, Richmond Webb, Vince Wilfork, Steve Wisniewski, Darren Woodson, Marshal Yanda

So, let's list our "definites" first. That's an easy way to start the process. Whether these guys get in this year or not, they're going to make the Hall of Fame someday, so let's add them to our list of 15 for 2025.

Jared Allen, Willie Anderson, Antonio Gates, Luke Kuechly, Terrell Suggs, Reggie Wayne, Vince Wilfork, Marshal Yanda.

There's 8 definites.

Next are the "they're PROBABLY getting in" guys who should make the cut this time around: Eli Manning, Robert Mathis, Torry Holt, Adam Vinatieri.

Now we're at 12.

Here's where I'll change my process and tell you who ISN'T making it and, therefore, won't be on the list. Or, my list, at least.

Jahri Evans, James Harrison, Steve Smith Sr., Richmond Webb, Steve Wiesniewski.

So now I'm trying to pick three names from this short list: Eric Allen, Anquan Boldin, Rodney Harrison, Fred Taylor, Earl Thomas, Hines Ward, Ricky Watters and Darren Woodson.

From that list of guys, I'll take Eric Allen, Fred Taylor and Earl Thomas to finish out my "final 15".

Now, let me tell you from that list of 15 finalists who my five guys are for 2025:

Terrell Suggs, Willie Anderson, Antonio Gates, Luke Kuechly and Jared Allen

I split hairs between Allen and Robert Mathis before going with Allen.

Yanda, Wilfork, Wayne, Manning, Mathis -- they will all definitely get in someday, just not this time around.

Feel free to give us your five that you think should make it in the Comments section below.

---

I wrote here yesterday about a question that was asked of me at a sports media panel earlier this week:

"What's the best thing you've ever seen in sports?"

It took me a few minutes to let some of the greatest sports moments of my life run through my brain.

Oddly enough, for whatever reason, none of them involved the Orioles, Colts or Ravens.

I guess when I hear that question, "What's the best thing you've ever seen in sports?", I tend to think about things that impacted people or communities in a way that wasn't necessarily self-serving to me, personally.

Like, the Capitals winning the Stanley Cup in 2018 was most certainly a highlight of my life. And, without question, it was one of the best things I've ever seen.

But it's not one of my two finalists.

Tiger winning the 2019 Masters is in my top four.

It didn't come completely out of nowhere, but it was pretty daggone close to coming out of nowhwere.

And the Cubs winning the World Series in 2016 is on my list.

I know, weird, right?

There was something about the Cubs and the curse and all that stuff, and the fact that they almost gave that Game 7 away before rallying to win in Cleveland.

I remember just sitting in my living room, locked into the TV for that final game in 2016. And feeling so good for all of those long suffering Cubs fans.

I thought seeing the Cubs finally win the World Series was among the greatest things I've ever seen in sports.

My number two is a little bit of a selfish one. It involves golf and it involves one of the sport's really good guys, Gary Woodland.

You may or may not remember this scene from the Phoenix Open back in 2019. It involves a young woman with a learning challenge, Amy Bockerstette.

Forget the fact that she made reasonable contact on the tee shot.

She then went into the bunker and splashed out a 40-foot bunker shot to within 15 feet of the flag.

And then she rolled in the 15 footer like she was Ben Crenshaw.

Woodland seemed genuinely thankful to be part of the moment. His support and enthusiasm for her helped make the whole thing incredibly memorable.

And, don't forget, Woodland would win the U.S. Open later that summer at Pebble Beach. God is great, indeed.

"I got this", Bockerstette said over and over.

I've showed this video to my Calvert Hall golf team every year since 2019, reminding them of the whole "I got this" mentality that Amy carried with her throughout that hole.

I love Gary Woodland's enthusiasm. I love how genuine he was. This is one of the best things I've ever seen in sports.

Alas, it's #2 on my list.

To me, there can only be one #1.

Some of you have referenced it already, which is fine.

Sadly, if you were born in, say, 1990 or later, what happened at Lake Placid in the 1980 Winter Olympics probably doesn't resonate with you.

But if you were alive then, it's a sporting event you'll never be able to wipe from your memory.

Two weeks before that historic semifinal game vs. the Soviet Union on February 22, 1980, the U.S. Olympic team lost to the Russian squad in Madison Square Garden, 10-3, in their final pre-Olympics tune-up game.

And we all know what happened at Lake Placid.

It was, quite simply, a "Miracle on Ice".

Nothing in sports will ever top what I saw that night. At least I don't think it will. We're here, 44 years later, and it's still the best thing I've ever seen in sports.

Wednesday November 20, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3741

what's the best thing you've ever seen in sports?

That question in the headline above is very broad, I'll give you that.

But it was asked of me on Tuesday during a daytime media panel I was part of at a local school.

"What's the best thing you've ever seen in sports?"

The four of us on the panel looked at each other and smiled.

It was a great question.

There's no right or wrong answer, obviously. It's all about what makes your sporting heart flutter, I suppose. That UMBC March Madness basketball win over Virginia was something to behold. It's not my top moment, by any means, but I could see where it might be on the top of someone's list.

"I don't have an answer just yet," I replied to the young man who asked the question yesterday. "But give me a few minutes to think about it."

"Tiger Woods winning the Masters in 2018," one of the panelists said.

I quickly interjected. "It was 2019."

"Sorry, 2019. Tiger winning the Masters in 2019," he confirmed.

"I didn't even know you were a golfer or liked golf," I shot back. "That definitely was a memorable moment, though. I'd have to consider that one for sure."

We bantered back and forth for a minute or two amongst ourselves.

The consensus was no one really had their exact, "final" answer, although Tiger's Masters win in 2019 and Tom Brady winning the Super Bowl with Tampa Bay were two moments that were discussed by the panelists.

On the drive home, I finally figured out what mine is.

I came up with a list of four moments and bounced them around in my head as I watched maniac drivers on the beltway buzz in and out of standstill traffic in an effort to get somewhere 45 seconds earler than they otherwise would if they were just patient and, you know, "human".

Tiger winning in 2019 was actually on my "final four" list. Alas, it didn't win. His 2019 Masters triumph is certainly my favorite Tiger moment, but it's not my #1 "best thing I've ever seen in sports" moment.

So, what's the best thing you have ever seen in sports?

Feel free to provide your #1 moment in the Comments section below.

As for mine...

You'll have to come back tomorrow to find out what it is.

I had another question posed to me on Tuesday, although this one was just a casual conversation with a friend, not in a panel setting like the one I referenced above.

"What do you think the temperature is with Harbaugh?" my friend Mark asked.

Most times, I'd just shrug that question away and give a very simple, standard answer. "He's not getting fired, if that's what you're asking."

This time, though, I answered it differently.

"Luke warm, maybe," I told him. "And probably more than luke warm if they don't at least get back to the AFC Championship Game."

This whole thing could put Harbaugh in a tricky spot if the Ravens somehow don't win the division and have to play on the road throughout the playoffs.

As it stands now, this scenario is a very real possibility given the Pittsburgh win last Sunday: KC and Buffalo finish 1-2 in some order and the Steelers wind up the #3 seed, meaning they face the #6 seed in the AFC Wild Card round.

One of the 7 or 8 loss teams will be the #7 seed.

The Ravens and Chargers will be the #5 and #6 seed in some order.

If the Ravens get that 6th seed, they'd go to Pittsburgh for their playoff opener if, as noted, the Steelers finish with the 3rd seed.

A loss to the Steelers in the playoffs could take John's seat from luke warm to hot-to-the-touch.

Harbaugh's contract runs through 2025. He probably has an automatic extension built in; an extra year for making the playoffs.

So, in theory, he'd have a 2-year deal intact if Steve Bisciotti wanted to part company with him. And Steve isn't too keen on giving away $20 million-plus of free money, I'm guessing.

Then again, I'm also not sure Steve would ever outright "fire" John Harbaugh. They'd give him a fancy title and move him into some sort of football administrative role, where he'd still collect his salary and remain actively involved with the organization, albeit no longer serving as the team's head coach.

That's probably the way it will go down.

I just can't see Bisciotti walking into John's office in late January and saying, "Sorry, Harbs, I'm letting you go."

But I could see Steve going to John and saying, "I love what you've done for us and I want you here at 1 Winning Drive for the rest of your natural, working life, but I think we need a new head football coach."

Sure, it's a "firing".

But it won't be presented as such.

And that's if it comes to pass that John Harbaugh is under the gun at the end of the season. I don't have that crystal ball or I'd bet on what I see.

What I do know is Bisciotti, like the rest of Baltimore, has to be thinking, "How many of these MVP years by Lamar are we going to squander?"

And while no one asked me this, specifically, I'm seeing a lot of chatter on the internet about the Orioles and their off-season spending abilities.

Corbin Burnes? Maybe.

Juan Soto? No chance.

Clay Holmes? It looks like that one's going to happen, but I'm definitely hoping there's more to the off-season than him.

I'd still say I'll be in the "surprised" camp if Burnes winds up in Baltimore, but I'm guessing some of his future depends on where Soto winds up landing.

If the Dodgers get Soto, they probably can't splurge on Burnes, too.

But if Soto winds up with the Mets, as many are now saying he will, then the Dodgers might counter that move by forking over the big money for Burnes.

In the meantime, the O's could swoop in and overpay Burnes to keep him from getting pinched in the middle of that Soto-Mets-Dodgers triangle.

I'm not against Corbin Burnes, mind you. Or, as it is, "re-adding" him.

He's a heckuva pitcher. If healthy in 2025, pencil him in for 17-8 and a 2.95 ERA. He's a top 10 pitcher in all of baseball, maybe even top 5.

But what about the vacant right field spot if Anthony Santander bolts?

Why not give Santander his $125 million for 4 or 5 years and sign a 2nd tier starting pitcher for something far more affordable than the $300 million or so that Burnes is going to rake in?

And what's this fascination Mike Elias has with erstwhile Yankees reliever Clay Holmes?

Are the Orioles really on the verge of signing him, as many in New York say they are?

Eh, I don't know, man. He seems pretty much "just OK" to me.

The Yankees are essentially dumping him. If they wanted him back in the Bronx, they'd sign him for the paltry $12 million per-year the O's are going to have to give him.

Holmes had 13 blown saves in pinstripes last season and the Yankees moved him out of the closer's spot in September. Granted, he would shift to a set-up role for Felix Bautista in Baltimore, but the 2024 numbers don't support putting a whole lot of stock in Holmes as a top flight bullpen arm in the '25 campaign.

Maybe removing him from the "heat" of closing will refresh Holmes. But that one is a bit of a head scratcher to me.

Then again, Eloy Jimenez was a head scratcher to me last July and we see how that turne --- well, never mind, that's not a great example.

The O's could do worse than Clay Holmes. I'll give them that much.

But they could also do better. And I thought that was the idea in the off-season. Get better.

Tuesday November 19, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3740

themorningafterthemorningafter

So, let me say from the start here that I'm not trying to offend anyone, hurt anyone's feelings or otherwise "call anyone out" with today's entry.

I hope you know that.

I'm merely responding to what many of you wrote here yesterday and via e-mail with regard to yesterday's piece about the Ravens loss in Pittsburgh on Sunday.

Connor e-mailed me with this quickie: "What, exactly, were you trying to do (today)? We all saw the same game that you did. Why did you present your game review like that?"

Bob the Idiot Caller submitted a comment below that read: "If you come here looking for any sort of coherent analysis of the game yesterday, evidently, you're out of luck. Instead we get 42 lines of being talked down to about keeping the loss in perspective."

Please note, I'm not calling Bob an idiot. He calls himself that. In this case, it might fit. I don't know Bob, so I have no idea if he's really an idiot or just a guy who likes poking fun at himself. Either way, I appreciate his support here over the years.

I have no idea at all how Bob felt like he was being talked down to, but if he did feel that way, I'm sorry. That wasn't my intention. I know what it feels to be talked down to. Recently, in fact. I felt that way every night in October when I turned on CNN and heard Abby Phillip or Anderson Cooper tell me if I didn't vote for Kamala Harris that must mean I'm a racist and a mysogynist.

I'm neither of those. Alas, that's how they talked to me in advance of the election and it offended me. So, yes, if Bob felt talked down to, I get it.

But I wasn't trying to "talk down" to anyone yesterday.

Some of you -- a lot of you, actually -- "got it", meaning, you understood what I was trying to do and complimented my work. That's nice. It's not necessary, per se, but nice nonetheless. I totally understand how journalism and creativity works. Some people get it, some people don't.

I read Ayn Rand's great work, The Fountainhead a long time ago and was so enthralled with it I gave it to a friend for his enjoyment. He gave it back to me a week later and said, "That's the dumbest thing I've ever read. I got through 50 pages before I sat it down on the floor hoping my cat would pee on it."

I assumed everyone loved Ayn Rand's work, but my friend Joel didn't.

Anyway...

Back when the Ravens were busy throwing away games earlier this season to Kansas City, Las Vegas and Cleveland, I circled back here the morning after and basically wrote the same thing time and time again.

"Turned the ball over at the worst time possible."

"Missed a field goal."

"Got flagged for a penalty or two they didn't deserve."

"Got flagged for a penalty or two they did deserve that came at a crucial moment in the game."

"Blundered a time-out situation, 4th down situation or some other game-management decision that came back to haunt them."

"Dropped a key pass or flubbed an interception that would have changed the outcome."

"Couldn't get a stop on defense when they needed it."

"Ran a puzzling series or two on offense that made no sense at all given their strengths on that side of the ball."

That's how they lost to the Chiefs, Raiders and Browns.

It's also how they lost to Kansas City in the AFC Championship Game last January, but that wound is almost healed now so I won't bring it up here this morning.

But all of the stuff I listed above is how the Ravens always lose.

I wrote that here after the Raiders game.

"The Ravens lose the same way every time."

I wrote that here after the Browns loss.

"Don't look now, but the Ravens lost the same way they always lose."

I even wrote, specifically, that I might rather see them just get blown out 38-6 and just have one of those days where nothing goes right instead of coughing up a game they shoulda, coulda, woulda won.

A loss is a loss, as Bob the Idiot mentioned yesterday. It can be 38-6 or 18-16 and it's a loss and it's only one of them.

There were certain things I referenced in yesterday's piece that were intended to come across as "coherent analysis" without coming across like I was stating the obvious. I was clearly trying to point out what you already knew: The Ravens lost the same way, again.

Some of you got it. For some of you, it went over your head. I've never been accused of being sophisticated, so please don't tell me I was being "too sophisticated" yesterday. If you didn't get it, so be it. I never got "The Simpsons", for what it's worth. It happens.

The Ravens lost on Sunday because these things happened:

They only scored 16 points. The other team scored 18.

Baltimore's field goal kicker missed 2 field goals. If you're a Flyers fan and you're rushing for your calculator, please don't. The math is quick and easy. If Tucker makes those two kicks, the Ravens win 22-18.

Alas, he didn't make them. Those points were critical when the clock hit 00:00 at the end of the fourth quarter.

The Ravens turned the ball over 3 different times, including once deep in their own end and once while driving and moving into Pittsburgh territory.

Baltimore was ahead 7-6 when they fumbled the ball away late in the first half and the Steelers connected for a late field goal to go up 9-7 at the end of the first half.

If they don't fumble there and all things stay equal, the Ravens win 16-15 instead of losing 18-16.

By the way, it's my opinion that was not a fumble on the play involving Isaiah Likely. He was clearly down before the ball was pulled away from him. But that's what happens. These refs, man. You never know what they're going to see that the rest of us don't see. Or do see. Anyway, that call was huge.

Speaking of the refs, they flagged the Ravens 12 total times on Sunday. A couple of them were ticky-tack. But a bunch of them were legit and the right call.

And this is one of those things I've never figured out about people who claim to "know sports" and (probably) played sports at some level in their earlier life.

People somehow think it's the head coach's fault when the defensive back holds someone or an offensive lineman moves too early or a linebacker hits the quarterback after he's thrown the ball.

"Why doesn't Harbaugh tell these guys to stop getting penalized all the time?" There are actually people on the internet who throw that one out there like it's a high-level-hot-take.

The Ravens have to cut down on the penalties. That's the truth. But you know who needs to stop getting penalties? The players. The guys on the field.

At what point do the football players have to take criticism for things they do on the football field?

A few years ago we at Calvert Hall Golf had a big late season match at Hunt Valley. The 11th hole there is a par 5 of 520 yards or that most high school players can reach in two shots.

In our pre-match discussion about the golf course, I told my players that the only way you can go for that green in two shots AND keep the ball on the green is if you're hitting that second shot from the fairway. With the rough up in late spring and the second shot playing 10 yards downhill, you weren't going to be able to get enough spin on the ball to hold the green if you tried to hit the green in two shots from the rough from 175 or 200 yards out.

Our day-of-match scouting told us the flag on that hole, #11, was in the back left portion of the green.

"You can not go for that pin in two shots if you're in the rough," I told my players before they teed off. "If you don't keep the ball on the green, you'll be long, behind the green, and you won't be able to get the ball up and down for birdie unless you make a crazy 30 or 40 foot putt."

"If you're in the rough off the tee," I told them, "lay up to whatever your preferred yardage is -- in the fairway -- and try to make birdie the old fashioned way or, at worst, get your par and get out of there."

As fate would have it, the match was close and our #5 player was faced with a 180 yard shot out of the right rough to that back left flag. Instead of playing smart and bumping his ball back into the fairway and giving himself 75 yards to the hole and a good chance for a birdie, he went for the flag out of the rough, hit the shot about 20 feet from the hole, and it careened over the green some 20 yards.

He then chipped the ball long, some 50 feet from the hole, and then 3-putted for bogey to give the hole to his opponent on a silver platter.

I told him not to hit the shot from the rough. I warned him and the others. It was a shot the best amateurs couldn't have pulled off.

He hit it anyway and pretty much exactly what I told him would likely happen wound up happening.

Who gets the blame?

I'm sure John Harbaugh tells Patrick Mekari to be careful with how far off the line of scrimmage he wanders on play-action in case Lamar decides to throw the ball late. Is Harbaugh to blame because Mekari gets flagged for that infraction almost every game?

Or is Mekari, you know, a professional football player, the guy who should know right from wrong?

And now we get to more of that "coherent analysis" you're here for: The failed Ravens 2-point conversion.

I'm not sure what happened there.

Whatever it was, it was a flop.

As I said on social media immediately after the play blew up, I think having Lamar Jackson or any quarterback -- who throws right handed -- run to their left is silly. It's a right sided world we live in, especially if you're a right handed thrower of the football.

Mike Tomlin pretty much made fun of the Ravens for the play call in his post-game press conference, but I'll leave that up to John Harbaugh to take care of the next time the two teams meet up in Baltimore.

Something definitely happened on the play. As in, something "wrong" happened.

It was destined to fail from jump street.

I am not a football expert.

I'm certainly not an offensive genius.

In fact, I like/liked the idea of having Lamar Jackson involved in the 2-point conversion.

That said, not having Derrick Henry, Patrick Ricard, Rashod Bateman or Zay Flowers on the field for that conversion attempt pretty much flashed this to the Steelers: LAMAR IS GOING TO RUN WITH THE BALL ON THIS PLAY

I have no idea what Todd Monken was thinking on that play. I know the result. It failed. I think, based on the "analysis" I just gave, it was going to fail far more times than it was going to succeed.

The play was so wonky and so disjointed even the Ravens didn't know how to pull it off.

Players came to the line of scrimmage and tried to move others into different positions in order to make the play a success. It didn't quite look like a scene from The Three Stooges, but it might have been a dress rehearsal for at least one scene.

Remember that famous line from Bull Durham? "Don't think, Meat, just pitch."

That's basically what Harbaugh should have said to Monken. "Just run the simple, effective play with our best players."

Todd Monken's a smart man. I believe that. But if you need two yards and four of your most prolific offensive players aren't on the field for the play in question, I'll go ahead and call that one a brain fart.

Fortunately for Monken, my opinion doesn't matter. Harbaugh's opinion matters. I assume he wasn't pleased with the result. I have no idea if he thought the play call was prudent.

The Ravens lost on Sunday the same way they always lose.

They lost the game. Sure, Pittsburgh gets a "W", so if you want more coherent analysis, there it is. The Steelers did win, yes. But the Ravens lost the game far more than the Steelers won it.

As Aerosmith once said: "It's the same old story, same old song and dance...my friend."

I tried to present my Monday summary in a way that wasn't "the same old song and dance." Anyone can go on line and write the same stuff over and over.

I assume most of you are smart enough to know for yourselves how the Ravens lost.

They lost the way I described it above.

And they lost the way I described it on Monday as well.

You saw the game. You know what happened.

You wanted a blow-by-blow recap of how it all occurred, and why, but you knew before you logged in on Monday morning why the Ravens didn't beat the Steelers.

You don't have to be a genius to figure it out. I figured it out and I'm far from a genius.

Don't get mad at me because you didn't like the outcome. I didn't like it either.

---

Major League Baseball will get a new crop of Hall of Fame inductees next summer and there is only one no-brainer on the list that was released yesterday.

Ichiro Suzuki is a new name, eligible for the first time in 2025. He's in. If he's not on every ballot that's turned in, anyone leaving him off should be stripped of their voting privileges. Like, forever.

Other newcomers include familiar stars of the last two decades: C.C. Sabathia, Felix Hernandez, Carlos Gonzalez, Dustin Pedroia, Hanley Ramirez, Fernando Rodney, Ian Kinsler, Ben Zobrist, Troy Tulowitzki, Russell Martin, Brian McCann, Curtis Granderson and longtime Oriole (and perhaps my favorite of all-time) Adam Jones.

Because the Hall of Fame has slowly morphed into the Hall of Very Good over the last 10 years, guys like Sabathia, Hernandez and Pedroia will get strong consideration. You can poke holes in all 3 of them if you so choose.

Here's how I see those three.

I think I would vote for Sabathia.

I'm a strong "maybe" but might need my arm twisted to vote for Hernandez.

I doubt I would vote for Pedroia.

In the Hall of Very Good, all three get in.

To me, in the Hall of Fame, perhaps only Sabathia qualifies.

And you can make a case against him, too, I think.

There are returning names on the ballot, as well.

Relief pitcher Billy Wagner, who barely missed out last year, returns for his 10th and final year on the ballot and needs to retain his 73.8% total of a year ago and find a few more votes to reach the 75% level required for induction into Cooperstown.

It's a shame the voting for the baseball Hall of Fame doesn't take place strictly in Pennsylvania or California. I hear they're good at finding a few more votes these days.

Other holdovers include steroids-tainted stars Alex Rodriguez (134 votes, 34.8%) and Manny Ramirez (125, 32.5%) along with Andruw Jones (237, 61.6%), Carlos Beltran (220, 57.1%), Chase Utley (111, 28.8%), Omar Vizquel (68, 17.7%), Jimmy Rollins (57, 14.8%), Bobby Abreu (57, 14.8%), Andy Pettitte (52, 13.5%), Mark Buehrle (32, 8.3%), Francisco Rodríguez (30, 7.8%), Torii Hunter (28, 7.3%) and David Wright (24, 6.2%).

From that list, you can scratch A-Rod and Manny Ramirez because of their steroid issues. So, they're out.

I personally think Andruw Jones was a Hall of Fame baseball player.

So, too, was Omar Vizquel.

And my underrated, take-a-deep-dive-into-his-stats candidate is lefthander Mark Buehrle. You want a hot take? I'll give you one.

Buehrle was on the same level, quality wise, as Sabathia and Hernandez.

Here's who would be on my ballot.

Ichiro

Billy Wagner

Andruw Jones

Omar Vizquel

Mark Buehrle

If you made me pick two more just for the sake of picking two more, I'd go with Sabathia and, against my better judgement, Carlos Beltran, who almost certainly used PED's in his career but was a remarkable hitter at the zenith of his playing days.

Monday November 18, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3739

shredded in pittsburgh

You knew it was bound to happen at some point.

The Ravens have been walking the tight rope all season, stealing a couple of wins they didn't deserve and doing "just enough to win" in another game or two.

Finally, it happened. A blow out loss.

It was so out of hand in Pittsburgh on Sunday that Derrick Henry didn't carry the ball once in the fourth quarter.

But why run him and risk injury in a meaningless final 15 minutes of a loss, right? I think we can all see the logic in that one.

12 Ravens penalties for 80 yards were a huge factor in the 42-16 shellacking at the hands of the Steelers.

Maybe I'm an optimist, but I'd rather get 12 penalties when the game is out of hand then to get them in a one-score nailbiter.

Am I right?

Speaking of penalties, I don't understand why John Harbaugh -- as the team's head coach -- doesn't tell his players to stop getting flagged for infractions during these games.

You know, gather them together before the warm-up, say the Lord's Prayer, and then offer them a friendly reminder.

"Hey, guys, do me a favor today. Do yourselves a favor, too. Stop getting so many penalties, would ya?"

But it wasn't just the occasional ineligible man downfield or illegal formation penalty that snagged the Ravens in the Sunday shellacking in Pittsburgh. There were other mitigating factors.

The Ravens turned the ball over three times in the game, including a weird-but-huge-cough-up-of-the-ball by Justice Hill with the Ravens trying to mount a late comeback.

Well, it wasn't really a comeback. I mean, the game was pretty much in the books when Hill had the ball taken from him in the 4th quarter.

One of those turnovers came right near the end of the first half when Isaiah Likely was down -- or, at least, his elbow was on the ground -- but both the officials and the dudes in the replay booth got it wrong. I know you're shocked by the fact that the referees missed a call, but, in a 42-16 blowout, one bad call that leads to the other team getting a free 3 points isn't that big of a deal.

Oh, and to rub salt in the wound, Justin Tucker missed two field goals.

We all know that's a recipe for a butt-kicking as well. When you have the chance to put points up, especially early, and you fail to do so, it usually comes back to haunt you.

That said, it wasn't like Tucker's two misses were the difference in the final result.

Instead of 42-22, the Ravens got throttled 42-16.

There was also a weird 2-point conversion play late in the game. If Lamar Jackson gets in the end zone there, it's 42-18 instead of 42-16.

That 2-point play was run without three of the team's most important playmakers on the field -- Flowers, Henry, Bateman were all on the bench -- but, again, you're risking a valuable offensive player blowing out his knee on a 2-point conversion that doesn't really mean anything at all in the big picture.

Prior to that play, the Steelers called time-out, which gave the Ravens an extra 45 seconds or so to discuss in more detail how they were going to successfully gain two yards.

Rather than go with something simple and easy, Baltimore's offensive coordinator, Todd Monken, drew up a complicated play that failed miserably.

That said, why score 2 insignificant points there when you can save that creative play for a moment and a game where it really matters?

Oh, and here's the other thing no one wants to talk about parties. Baltimore's defense needed to come up with a huge performance on the road on Sunday and instead, they laid an egg that Denny's could use to feed an entire restaurant.

What the Ravens needed to do was hold Pittsburgh, say, to under 20 points. If they were able to do that, a win would be all but guaranteed.

Instead, the Steelers tore the Ravens defense apart. Sure, Roquan Smith and Travis Jones were both removed from the game due to injuries, but just because they were both having All-Pro performances doesn't mean they were going to keep doing that for 60 minutes.

Baltimore's secondary got roasted like hot dogs on a fire pit by Russell Wilson and George Pickens.

The Steelers moved up and down the field so much that Chris Boswell, their kicker, booted the ball through the uprights SIX times on Sunday. When the kicker is out there six times, you know you're getting smashed.

In fact, it got so out of hand in the Steel City yesterday that Justin Fields came in for mop up duty on the final few offensive plays for Mike Tomlin's team.

The good news for the Ravens?

There's still six weeks of the season left and they have a fine record of 7 wins and 4 losses. Anything can happen from here on in.

Pittsburgh's 8-2, but they still have to tangle with the Browns twice.

This AFC North race is far from over, which makes Sunday's blow out loss to the Steelers a little easier to digest.

It was only one game.

No biggie.

Sunday November 17, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3738

i don't care what you say...

Looks like some #DMD folks are getting a little antsy about today's Ravens-Steelers game in Pittsburgh.

"We're on pins and needles" one of them wrote.

Really? Pins and needles? For a mid-season game in Pittsburgh? OK, then. Let's dive in.

If the Ravens secondary plays above their pay grade, Baltimore wins.

If the Ravens secondary stinks it up, Baltimore loses.

Now......

How about that Maryland football program, huh? Losing at home to Rutgers? You gotta be kidding me.

There's no way people can take Terps football seriously if they're going to lose at home to Rutgers.

So, let's dive in to what's going on down at College Park and see what changes need to be made in order to get things straightened out down there.

You can't lose to Rutgers and expect people to just accept it and move on.

I'm just having fun. "Trolling" as the kids like to say. We're not talking Maryland football here today, although losing at home to Rutgers should bring about a deep-dive into just what-on-earth-is-going-on with the program.

Alas, that's just not my thing. Maryland football is Maryland football. To borrow a line from the great movie, A Bronx Tale, "Nobody cares".

But people do care about what happens today in Pittsburgh. It's a big game, for several reasons.

The Ravens have 3 losses and, no matter what happens this afternoon, are probably a fairly safe bet to at least lose once more this season to end up somewhere around 12-5. But a loss today and a slip-up or two to someone else and an 11-6 record might make the AFC North a tight squeeze.

Pittsburgh -- by the grace of their cakewalk schedule to date -- has just 2 losses. They have two games left with both the Browns and Bengals. They also play at Baltimore and Philadelphia and home against Kansas City.

That looks like 4 or 5 losses, total, to me, not withstanding today's clash in Pittsburgh.

So, yes, this one is big today.

"Pins and needles"? I won't go that far. It's a regular season game. Nothing, to me, is "pins and needles" territory until mid-January when you win-and-keep-playing or lose-and-go-home.

But some people get anxious anytime the Ravens and Steelers meet up. I get it.

I referenced the secondary earlier and I'm guessing that's what it will come down to today in the Steel City. I have never been a huge believer in Russell Wilson, so I might have egg on my face at 4 pm this afternoon, but I don't think he's going to beat Lamar Jackson today.

I know it's not specifically Wilson vs. Lamar, but it is in my mind. If Wilson carves up the Ravens defense for 30, Lamar has to figure out a way to get the Ravens to 31.

This is very cliche, I know, but these games, today, are why Lamar gets $50 million to play football.

He has to go up there and pull off a win by any means necessary, kind of like the losing political side is trying to do now that the 2024 election is over.

"What can we do to win this thing, in any possible manner?" they're asking.

Well, Lamar should take note of that attitude.

"How do we win this game today, in any possible manner?"

I honestly don't care if it's 20-17 or 40-37.

I suspect there's a way better chance of it being 20-17 than 40-37, by the way, simply because that's "usually" how these Baltimore vs. Pittsburgh games turn out, but the Ravens haven't had a defense that was this suspect and this vulnerable since the Vinny years.

Here's why I think today's game tilts in "our" favor.

The Ravens have won these all season.

They shoulda, coulda, woulda lost twice to the Bengals, but didn't.

Granted, they lost the first game because the dude missed a game-winning field goal and they lost the second one -- in part -- because their moronic coach went for 2 points at the end of the game, but those were two high scoring games where Baltimore's defense got battered like Alonzo Harris in the "King Kong" scene of Training Day.

And, yet, the Ravens and Lamar -- most importantly, Lamar -- figured out a way to win.

I don't think Russell Wilson is beating Lamar Jackson today.

I know Lamar doesn't play defense. And Pittsburgh's defense isn't chopped liver. But I just don't think the Ravens go up there and lose.

Would I be shocked if the Ravens lose?

I would not.

Their defense, until proven otherwise, is a massive sore spot. They can give up 30 points as easily as the Orioles could leave the bases loaded with nobody out this past August and September.

But there's also something about Ravens-Steelers that seems to bring out the best in people. I suspect today's game looks and feels different than both Bengals game or that Browns game the Ravens defense gift-wrapped for Cleveland last month.

I won't go as far as saying, "I don't care what you say, we're not losing to Russell Wilson."

Despite his overrated status, Wilson is still (mostly) competent. He has a dangerous receiver or two. Their run game isn't great, but it's also not inefficient.

The game could be tied 24-24 with two minutes left and T.J. Watt sneaks around the left side and knocks the ball out of Lamar's hand and three plays later, the Steelers kick a game-winning field goal to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

T.J. Watt is a baller. If the Ravens don't contain him today, watch out.

I'm guessing you're on "pins and needles" waiting for my official score prediction. Well, here you go.

I don't see this one being as high scoring as current circumstances might indicate.

Unless Pittsburgh's defense fails to appear, this one won't reach 60 points combined. Frankly, it might not even reach 50 points in total.

Somewhere around there looks about right.

Baltimore leads 17-7 at the half.

The Steelers cut it to 17-14 early in the 3rd quarter.

Pittsburgh then ties it up at 17-17 after Justin Tucker misses a 51 yard field goal.

The Ravens move back ahead 24-17 midway through the fourth quarter. The Steelers cut it to 24-20 with 5 minutes remaining, but the Ravens march down the field and Tucker connects on a 38 yard field goal with 1:57 remaining to make it 27-20.

Wilson and the Pittsburgh offense get the ball to the Baltimore 25 yard line with 30 seconds left but can't punch it in from there and the Ravens move to 8-3 with a 27-20 win.

In an ironic ending, most of you will, in fact, be on "pins and needles" in the game's waning moments.

But the Ravens prevail.

Now, about that Maryland football team.

Our friend Will Jackson is on assignment, which means he's on vacation (Aruba, that rat fink) and will not be publishing his picks today. He will return next week, he says.

Saturday November 16, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3737

be a man and show some pride

I see where the issue of the Ryder Cup pay-for-play idea got some people hot and bothered here at #DMD yesterday.

And that includes me, too, I suppose.

Look, I don't mind playing out of a divot in the fairway. It didn't get in the divot on its own. You're the one who hit it there.

If you hit your ball in a bunker and it was unraked by the group before you, it's still on you, not them. You hit it in there, after all.

Those are just two examples of things that bother other people that don't faze me at all.

But the Ryder Cup and the concept that American players are bellyaching to get paid to play in it? That bothers me.

For starters, they already do get paid. Bigly, as someone we all know might say. They all bonuses built into their sponsorship contracts for making a team, whether it's Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup. They might make another $500K or more depending on how many logos and sponsors they have in their stable.

They also get paid in future monies by making a team, meaning their stock, as a player, goes up considerably when they make a Ryder Cup team. Instead of getting $250K for a logo on their shirt, now they can ask for -- and get -- $400K or or more. The same goes with their hat and their golf bag.

Max Homa has a lot more prestige post-Ryder-Cup-appearance than he did when he was just a kid coming out of California trying to carve out a nice living for himself on TOUR. The profile of someone like Sam Burns is bigger than, say, that of Denny McCarthy or Chesson Hadley.

So, before anyone starts thinking Doug Ghim is going to have to eat ramen noodles if he somehow makes a Ryder Cup team in his career, relax. Making a team gets you big money in and of its own.

There seems to be this thought that the PGA of America makes a gazillion dollars on the event and, therefore, the players -- you know, the stars of the show -- should reap the benefit, financially, of their involvement.

It's true. The Ryder Cup is a huge money maker. Tickets are expensive, the whole thing is on TV, beers cost $15 at the venue and so on and so on.

It's also an expensive event to run, just like the Super Bowl is expensive to run.

But most importantly, the PGA of America needs money to do what they do. They run the Ryder Cup. And they're the ones responsible for helping grow the game of golf. They're not the PGA Tour. They're completely unaffiliated with the TOUR.

The PGA Tour grows the "sport" of professional golf.

The PGA of America grows golf. The golf you and I play. The golf your kids play. The golf your mom and dad played.

They train men and women to become PGA golf professionals. They do anything and everything under the sun to nurture, grow and promote golf.

Without golf professionals to run golf courses -- you know, the ones we play -- there would be no golf courses. Businesses don't run themselves, although the last four years might.....well, never mind, I'll just stop there. You get the point. You need trained professionals to run golf courses and country clubs and that's what the PGA of America does with some of their money.

Once every two years, they put on an event that is, depending on who you believe, the biggest event in the sport.

It's televised all over the world. Tickets are impossible to get. In golf terms, it's the Super Bowl on steroids that would make Barry Bonds blush.

For reasons I'm not smart enough to understand, the American players look at the Ryder Cup differently than the Europeans look at it.

The U.S. based players look at everything like it's an opportunity for a money grab.

European players don't look at everything in the same way.

I don't know why. I'm not saying that makes Europeans "better" than us. But they aren't nearly as hellbent on making money on anything and everything like American golfers are.

No one asked me, but the easiest solution to the Ryder Cup pay-for-play issue is to simply say to the Americans who make the team, "There's no compensation for you directly from the PGA of America. You can solicit your own stable of sponsors to "bonus you" if you make the team (which, almost every American player does with his various sponsors and marketing partners), but we're not paying you to play in the event."

And if, say, Xander Schauffele or Patrick Cantlay or Scottie Scheffler objects to that, they're simply not on the team and another player is added.

Let's be honest. The Americans haven't won on foreign soil in the Ryder Cup since 1993. So, you know, it's not like we've been exactly knocking them dead with our "best" players. If Cantlay says, "I'm not playing without getting paid", tell him to sit this one out and give his spot to Russell Henley or J.T. Poston and, guess what, they'll do just fine.

I don't see why that would be so difficult. There have been basketball players who opted out of the Olympics. Plenty of football players opt out of the Pro Bowl. Baseball players turn down All Star Game assignments, either for injury or other reasons of their choosing.

What's so hard about that concept with the Ryder Cup? "If you need money in exchange for playing in the event, we'll just replace you."

This idea of "playing for your country" used to be embraced with great enthusiasm, albeit two or three decades ago, at least.

Perhaps because they've made too much money in the first place, that concept is (mostly) long gone. At least here in the U.S., anyway.

A friend of mine asked me why I think it is that there's such a stark difference between the way American golfers look at playing for their country vs. the way Europeans look at it.

I gave him a one-word answer: Pride.

I don't know why Europeans have more pride in their country than U.S. players do in theirs, but they do. You see it in soccer, too. It's not just a golf thing.

It's weird to call an American out for a lack of pride. It feels like one of the most mean-spirited-things you can say about someone.

"This is your home. How can you possibly not love it?"

Alas, national pride has dropped off remarkably over the last 20-30 years. People bristle at flying the American flag in (American) schools. People reject the idea of having young boys and girls recite the Pledge of Allegiance in schools. People don't think the National Anthem is worth standing up for.

We've lost it. Not everyone, mind you. But enough people have lost their sense of decency on these subjects that the minority is slowly becoming the majority when it comes to the matter of showing national pride.

And we'd rather not hurt someone's feelings than have them say the Pledge in school. They could be scarred for life, I guess.

A general lack of pride. I think that's really what irks me about the Ryder Cup saga.

Just once, once every two years, I think Patrick Cantlay should put pride over greed. He can be a greedy, money-grubbing, endorsement-filled athlete the other 103 weeks and I get it. It's part and parcel of being a sports entrepreneur, if you will.

And I'm using Cantlay as an example, only. I have no idea where he stands on this whole thing.

Patrick Cantlay -- and every American player -- owes everything he has to the sport of golf. He owes everything to the PGA professional who coached him when he was 6 years. He owes everything to the PGA section in his hometown who organized countless junior golf tournaments to play in every summer when he was 10, 12 and 16 years old.

Once every two years, Cantlay should say "thank you" by collecting a million dollars in bonus money from the cell phone company, mortgage lender and airline that he's aligned with and telling the PGA of America, "I'm honored to play in the Ryder Cup and represent the United States in an international competition."

It's not that hard to do.

Jack Nicklaus did it.

Arnold Palmer did it.

Tom Watson did it.

Tiger Woods did it.

Suck it up and be a man and realize how fortunate you are to lead the life you've built for yourself.

That's the way I see it. It's about pride. We don't have any. Or, at the very least, American golfers don't have any.

And as someone who loves golf and the United States, that's troubling to me.

Friday November 15, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3736

reading time: 3 minutes

I hope my old friend Phil Jackman is up there in the big lounge chair in the sky, enjoying a beverage of his choice this morning and checking in on #DMD.

This one's for you, Phil.

Oh, and the Redsk --- errrr, Commanders got roasted in Philly last night, 26-18. Washington led 10-3 at one point before Philly reeled off 20 straight points in something like 45 seconds. I know you were giggling as you watched that fourth quarter.

There's a lot of chatter on the streets about the Orioles and what they're going to do in free agency. Part of that decision making process will stem, I think, on what they plan on doing with Heston Kjerstad. Could they trade him? Sure. But I'm guessing they're going to keep him around to see if he turns into a real player. If Cedric Mullins is going to start the season as the every day centerfielder, I assume that means Colton Cowser is the regular left fielder. Kjerstad can either shift to right field, where his mediocre-at-best defensive skills aren't as (potentially) damaging as they would be in left, or he can DH. The problem is the O's tend to use Rutschman as a DH against righties. I'm not Mike Elias, but if I were running the O's, I'd make a play for Randal Grichuk and he and Kjerstad can platoon in right field.

If we're going to concede the AFC's top seed to Kansas City, which I think is probably reasonable to do at this point, the real focus for the Ravens should be on securing the #2 seed, which gets them a home game against the #7 seed to start the playoffs. Right now, the only team the Ravens need to be concerned with are the Bills, who are 8-2 and host Kansas City this Sunday. Let me just tell everyone this: Buffalo will finish the year with at least 5 losses. Maybe even 6. Unless something "weird" happens with the Ravens (and you know what that is...and I don't have the heart to say it here), they're not losing 6 games. So, the Ravens are going to finish as the #2 seed. Who will they face in the playoffs? You'll have K.C. at #1, Baltimore at #2, Buffalo at #3, Houston at #4. Wild cards will be the Steelers (#5), Chargers (#6) and.......Bengals? Broncos? Colts? Dolphins? Any of those four would be fine, but, you know, if we can somehow not have to see Burrow and Chase again, I'd sign off on that.

This Ryder Cup "pay-for-play" story is very unsettling to an old school guy like......me. I have no idea if the number floated on Thursday -- $400,000 for each player on the U.S. team -- is true, but the actual money amount isn't really what's important. Even if it were, say, $200,000, I'd still have a sour feeling about it. Why? Because just once every two years, playing for and representing your country should be an idea you're willing to embrace. I do not begrudge golfers whoring themselves to mortgage companies, financial advisors, automobile manufacturers, communications and wireless companies, apparel makers, watches, and so on. If they can make another million bucks wearing logos on their shirt and hat, more power to 'em. But once every two years, you, as one of the 12 best American golfers, should be willing to basically "work free of charge" for a week. You don't owe it to the PGA of America (the organization that runs the event). You owe it to golf. Without golf, you'd be selling insurance or owning a car wash (not that there is anything wrong with either of those two things).

If you're a believer in "good things happen to good people", you have to believe things are going to turn around for Zach Orr as the Ravens defensive coordinator. He might be a tad overmatched in this, his first season at the helm, but Orr deserves good fortune if anyone ever did. Here's hoping things turn around for him. Sooner rather than later. He's a solid man, is Orr.

I'm sure this was dumb, but it's not the dumbest way I've ever spent money. I was able to get Maryland at +7000 to reach the Final Four in men's basketball next April. If they make it that far, I'll be doing handstands out on Joppa Road. If they don't, it's basically one less "date night" for the wife and I in 2025. We'll just stay home and watch SNL reruns and have chinese food or something. But if the Terps do get to the final four.......we're going to Sizzler. Every month. For, like, 10 years. Now I have a vested interest in what Kevin Willard's team does this year. That's one way to get me to pay attention to the games.

If you're ever up in the wee hours of the morning or have reason to listen to overnight radio, I hope you get the opportunity to hear Amy Lawrence and her national sports talk show. Following in my footsteps, my son keeps his radio on all night, as I did when I was his age. And often times when I'm stirring in bed and can hear his radio in the next room, I'll hear her show. I met her once or twice during my radio days when we were both at the Super Bowl. She's an awesome woman and very good on the air. She's great with callers and just simply "knows her stuff". If you ever get the chance to tune in, please do. I promise you'll like her work.

That was a nice win for the U.S. men's soccer team last night in Jamaica, winning the first leg of their Nations League quarterfinal, two-game series, 1-0. The condition of the field was a total embarrassment. I totally understand a lot of the smaller Caribbean countries decimate their "pitch" on purpose in an effort to level the playing field. Trinidad and Tobago let their grass grow for 3 weeks before an important home game and then hose it down with 2 or 3 inches of water the day before the contest. But the turf last night in Kingston was horrendous. The soccer wasn't much better, frankly. The U.S. got a 5th minute goal from Ricardo Pepi, then held on from there. U.S. goalie Matt Turner saved a first half penalty kick to preserve the win. The two teams return to action in St. Louis on Monday for the final game of the quarterfinal series.

#DMD reader Ray sent me an e-mail on Thursday admonishing me for labeling Ben Roethlisberger a Hall of Famer in a piece I wrote earlier in the week highlighting main characters of the Ravens-Steelers rivalry. "Why would you endorse that (POS) for anything?" Ray asked me. If we started breaking down the human goodness of every NFL Hall of Fame inductee, there might only be 29 guys in the place. I mean, our very own treasured community son, Ray Lewis, had a brief fling with the law, as we all remember. Roethlisberger was no angel. I never claimed he was. I merely said he would someday be in the Hall of Fame because he was a great quarterback. It's weird how sports fans pick and choose the moments they want to recall and the moments they'd rather forget.

Look, the NFL is king and there's nothing that's really going to change that anytime in the near future. But these game officials and the calls they make and don't make are really starting to look borderline corrupt. Every team has a gripe. In almost every game. The Bengals certainly had reason to whine about a few non-calls last Thursday night. Oh, and that game should have ended on the 4th and 10 throw that gained 9 yards, except they gave the dude who caught the ball an extra half yard and a first down and Cincinnati almost stole the game. Week in and week out, the calls are, let's say, mysterious. Is that the right word? Last night was another semi-fiasco. It's not getting any better. I'm not sure what else to say about it other than......it has to improve at some point in the next year or two. Then again, this might be what the league wants. Just like when Stone Cold posed as a nurse and hit Vince McMahon with a bed pan. "People are talking about it."

faith in sports

Trevor Bayne won the Daytona 500 at age 20 and the first thing he said into his radio wasn't, "Let's go party!" or "Who has it better than us??" or "We're the racing champions of the world!"

So what did Bayne say after he became the youngest driver to ever win the biggest stock car race in the world?

You'll see and hear it in the video below.

Even if you're not a NASCAR or racing fan, 6:25 of Trevor Bayne this morning is a good thing. He took on the world starting at age 15 when he moved, by himself, to North Carolina to start racing.

The rest is history.

If you'll give him 6 minutes of your time this morning, you'll appreciate this young man in a new way.

Thanks, as always, to our friends at Freestate Electrical for their continued support of #DMD and our Friday "Faith in Sports" segment.

Thursday November 14, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3735

can you explain it? (yes)

Completely independent of one another (I believe), I have three e-mails in my inbox that contain almost the exact same theme.

"Can you explain?"

Rather than dodge the question like Colonel Jessup (in some places on the internet, it's spelled "Jessep") did in A Few Good Men -- "maybe Private Santiago was an early riser, maybe he didn't have any friends" -- I'll answer the three questions here today.

One of the questions, centering on the Capitals, has been answered here before. But I don't mind revisting it because the easy is actually quite simple.

We might as well start with that one.

Phil sent me an e-mail earlier this week: "Hey Drew, what's with all the love for Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals? You do know they play in Washington D.C. and not Baltimore right? Do you think people in Baltimore care about the Capitals?"

They play in Washington D.C.? Really? I had no idea.

#clownshoes

OK, this one's easy. I've discussed it here before.

Baltimore doesn't have a NHL team. They never have, in fact.

And, so, when I first started playing hockey in the mid 1970's, the Caps were the only "local" team, albeit down the road 50 minutes or so at the Capital Centre.

It never really dawned on me the Capitals were "off limits" because they were in Washington D.C. In fact, they were only "called" the Washington Capitals. But the games were in Landover, MD.

Anyway, I've always loved the Capitals. My dad and I went to almost every game in their second season, 1975-76, and I'd say I've attended in excess of 500 Caps home games -- and dozens of away games in Philly, New Jersey, New York and even Boston twice.

It would be totally different if Baltimore had a NHL team to call their own. Alas, we don't.

I'd love to have a NHL team playing downtown somewhere. That would be the coolest thing ever. But it will never happen.

So, I keep on rooting for the Caps, even now.

I have little interest in the NBA so it doesn't dawn on me to root for the Wizards. We have a football and baseball team in Baltimore that I root for, so the Commanders and Nationals are rivals, not favorites.

But I love hockey. And with no team in Baltimore, the Caps are the closest team to me. Some of my fondest memories in my life center on the Caps, going to games, cheering for them, etc.

I even once got to meet and interview my childhood idol, Caps radio broadcaster Ron Weber. Talk about feeling like a king.

That would be me feeling like a king. Not Ron Weber.

And, yes, I do think there are a lot of Capitals fans in Baltimore. The TV numbers also reflect that opinion. People in Baltimore watch hockey, whether that's the Caps or the Stanley Cup playoffs."

Carl Willimas asks -- "If someone totally unfamiliar with golf asked you to explain the downfall of Tiger Woods, what would you say to them?"

DF says -- "I don't know exactly how to put it in percentages, but I'd say 70% of it was injury related (which includes the car accident and the aftermath), 20% of it is the natural aging process and how it's a "young man's sport" and 10% of it can be traced back to the 2009 incident involving his then-wife.

A lot of people think he was "never the same" after the 2009 issue, but he won a lot of golf tournaments in the four years that followed, just no majors in that time span.

Once the injuries and surgeries started to pile up starting in 2014, that's when he started to really decline.

The car accident in 2021 was the worst injury of them all, though. The others -- knee, back, achilles, neck -- were all relatively minor compared to almost losing his leg in the one-vehicle accident he was involved in.

That's the one injury from which he couldn't and won't fully recover.

Even now, Woods plays very occasional solid rounds of golf, but they are of the one-and-done variety. He can no longer put together consecutive rounds in the 60's, which he used to do with one arm tied behind his back.

He has two significant challenges these days: His inability to play enough tournament golf to be "game ready" for the four majors. And the reason he can't do that is because he can't practice enough to get ready for those 10-12 events he needs to play to stay sharp for the Masters, PGA, U.S. Open and British Open.

Yes, even Tiger Woods needs practice. Lots of it, in fact. And the injuries he has sustained over the years no longer allow him to be competitive.

There's no telling how many tournaments and majors Woods would have won had it not been for the rash of injuries he suffered a decade ago.

100 regular TOUR wins? 20 majors? Those two numbers seem very possible given that he's currently at 82 TOUR victories and 15 majors and he's only won 3 tournaments, including one major, over the last 10 years.

The funniest part of the Tiger saga is that even after three surgeries from 2014-2018, a limited playing schedule, and a game that was about 75% of what it once was, he still won the Masters in 2019, which is one more major than these guys managed to win in their entire career: Lee Westwood, Rickie Fowler, Matt Kuchar, Colin Montgomerie and, currently, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton and Patrick Cantlay.

I'm sure those guys don't find that stat very funny."

M.J. asks -- "Hey Drew, for your Q&A column, can you explain how the Turkey Bowl works between Calvert Hall and Loyola? Who sells all the tickets? Do the schools split the money that's made from the game or does that go to a promoter? Who is the favorite in this year's game? Thanks!"

DF says -- "The game is run by both schools, although the designated "home" school (this year it's Loyola) is responsible for extra duties like working with the stadium and their operations people to have everything ready for game day, securing the officials for the game, etc.

The visiting team's fans get to sit on the "sunny side" of the stadium, which is the non-press-box side.

I'm not in a position to discuss the financial arrangements of the game. I know nothing about it. Sorry.

And I'm not all that familiar with Loyola's team this season, so I can't help with handicapping the game. Calvert Hall had some "up" moments this past season, that much I do know. They made the MIAA playoffs and beat the likes of Gilman and Mount Saint Joseph along the way.

I'm sure both teams will be ready on Thanksgiving Day, like they always are."

Wednesday November 13, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3734

confession time

If you're a Ravens fan and you're nervous about this Sunday, that's totally understandable.

You're probably sitting around thinking to yourself, "Please, please, please let me get what I want."

And what you want, obviously, is a Ravens win over the Steelers.

Lamar Jackson isn't worried, I wouldn't think. "All you need is me," he's saying. And guess what? He's probably right. When Lamar is "on", that's all the Ravens need.

Oh, and let's not forget, these Steelers haven't seen Derrick Henry in purple yet. You know Derrick Henry. He's the guy Lamar refers to as "My best friend on the payroll". He's ready to run through and over Pittsburgh up in the Steel City on Sunday.

Now, there are certain people I know who think the Ravens are in trouble because their secondary stinks.

And what might John Harbaugh's message be to his secondary on Sunday? I hope it's something with a little more meat to it than, say, "Do your best and don't worry."

As for Justin Tucker, I sorta-kinda hope Sunday's game goes down to the wire and he trots on the field for a game-winning 49 yard field goal attempt and nails it right down the middle. I just want to see the boy happy.

Speaking of things Harbs says to his players, what do you think he would whisper to Tucker as he puts on his helmet and steps on the field for that game-winning kick attempt? "No one can hold a candle to you" is my best guess.

Or, maybe Harbs pats him on the backside and says, "To me you are a work of art."

I mean, you just have to stay positive with Tucker, right?

But if Tucker misses that kick and the Ravens somehow fall to the Steelers on Sunday, we should be prepared for bedlam here in Baltimore.

I know what to expect.

People are the same everywhere, after all. But I don't think I want to see the overreaction if it's an "L" and not a "W" up there.

"You were good in your time," people will say to Tucker on social media.

Or, "sorry doesn't help".

Tucker will hopefully take it all in stride. He's been great, after all.

"I'm not sorry," he might say, defiantly.

Let's hope it doesn't end like that on Sunday.

I don't want to see Tucker miss a huge kick in Pittsburgh.

I'd be disappointed if that's how it ends.

---

This one might not be easy for you to complete today.

If so, I understand.

I mean, frankly, if you asked me to list any Flyers players I've secretly coveted over the years, I couldn't do it.

I wouldn't do it, actually.

Well, I'd take Travis Konency on my team any day. If the Caps acquired him, I'd be OK with it.

The rest of those rat finks you can have. All of them. Since the 1970's, I mean. They're all charlatans.

So, if you say, "There's no way I can admit to having a fondness for anyone who played or plays for the Steelers," I get it.

I'll go ahead and lead off the exercise.

Because, over the years, there were definitely players in black and gold I would have loved to cheered for in Baltimore.

Now, understand something. I'm not suggesting a swap or trade. In other words, when I say, "Hines Ward could have played for my team any day," I don't mean I'm taking him over Todd Heap. I'm simply saying I would have loved to have seen Ward in purple.

So, yes, let's start there, officially.

I always thought Hines Ward was a heckuva wide receiver. In fact, he "played like a Raven", I'd say. He could throw out the occasional cheap shot, sure. But he was also a big time player who came through in the clutch time and time again.

On the flip side, I thought Joey Porter was an overachieving showboat. He was a decent player. Nothing more than that, really. I was always unimpressed with him.

The same with Plaxico Burress. He had his moments. He certainly did his fair share of torturing the Ravens. But all in all, I though he was just an OK player. Not much more than that.

I always liked Heath Miller. He was basically their version of Todd Heap and Dennis Pitta. Or Mark Andrews, today. He was reliable, made tough catches, and always seemed to come up with that one big reception on 3rd and 7 that kept a critical drive going.

Ike Taylor was hilariously inept. I loved when the Ravens matched up with him in the secondary. Despite our general lack of quality at the wide receiver spot, the Ravens always seemed to get the best of Taylor. Then again, so did most everyone else in the league. He'd prance around back there like he was the next coming of Deion Sanders and then give up 9 catches and 2 touchdowns in the game.

Troy Polamalu was obviously a player every team coveted. I mean, he's a Hall of Famer. And he played the game the right way, too. He was, of course, their version of Ed Reed. If possible, I thought guys like Polamalu and Reed were actually underrated in their careers. Polamalu was great.

T.J. Watt is legitimately a game-wrecker. Can you imagine if the Ravens had a guy like that on this year's defense? I don't follow the games, the Steelers or the stats close enough to know if he's a Hall of Famer in the making or not, but it certainly feels like he's probably on the path to Canton.

I saw the value in Jermome Bettis even though I always thought he got a little more spotlight than his production otherwise warranted. But, sure, he filled a nice role for them and certainly played a huge role on their offense during his time in Pittsburgh. I was never a huge Bettis fan. He was football's version of The Kinks. Good enough to stand out, but a tad overhyped.

I'm obviously leaving out the one name that is sure to create the most chatter.

Benjamin Todd Roethlisberger played 18 seasons for the Steelers, won 2 Super Bowls, and will someday soon be in the NFL Hall of Fame.

"Big Ben" was a massive force in his career.

Personally, there was quite a lengthy period of time during their respective careers where I would have taken Roethlisberger over Peyton Manning. Not because he was a "better" quarterback than Manning. But because he could win the games that Manning couldn't.

In the last 25 years, I'd say there were only three quarterbacks I saw/have seen that I'd definitely take over Big Ben: Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers.

Sure, newer guys like Lamar, Josh Allen and even Justin Herbert look like they might be comparable to Ben someday, but none of those three have made it to a Super Bowl yet, let alone win two of them.

In his era, though, during his zenith, Roethlisberger was a beast. The eternal "pain in the rear". He looked like he was down, only he wasn't. He looked like he was going to get sacked on 3rd and 8, only to somehow escape it and hit (insert receiver here) for a 13 yard gain.

Roethlisberger might be my all-time favorite non-Ravens quarterback.

He could have played for my team any day.

I also think Mike Tomlin is a terrific football coach, even if he did definitely try to trip Jacoby Jones in Baltimore.

Tomlin will obviously join Andy Reid, Bill Belichick and John Harbaugh as "current" coaches who will make it to the Hall of Fame someday. And rightfully so.

OK, then. As Ravens-Steelers week hits the midway point, it's time for your confessions.

Come on, you can do it.

No one knows but us.

'Fess up.

---

OK, so while we're confessing stuff, let's do this.

Who is one musical artist you like and/or listen to that your friends would say, "What on earth? You're listening to that?"

My friends know I have a wide range of musical preferences.

I can listen to late 1970's Jeff Lorber Fusion for 40 minutes and then throw on Eminem's "Recovery" album immediately thereafter.

I'll listen to AC/DC's "Back in Black" followed by Steely Dan's "Aja".

If you brought a Katy Perry CD with you, we can give that one a spin and then finish up with Warren Zevon's incredible album, "Excitable Boy".

I'll sing every lyric to every song on Live's "Throwing Copper" album, then do the same thing with one of my personal top 5 favorite albums of all time, "L.A. Woman" by The Doors.

Those albums were released about 32 years apart, mind you. But they're both timeless to me.

OK, so here's my confession. And yes, I know what you're thinking.

No, it's not that I've been listening to "Abbey Road" recently and have shockingly found it appealing.

I've never owned a country album in my life. I listen to virtually any and all kinds of music except country.

But my confession is: I am totally blown away by Sierra Ferrell.

She's incredible.

And while I don't think country music has been "dead" or anything like that, she's a huge spark to that genre of music.

When you get me to pay attention, that's saying something.

Maybe it's that I don't consider her out-and-out "country" music, even though I know she is. I view Ms. Ferrell as a cross between Michelle Branch (who didn't really start out as a country singer) and Michelle Shocked (who also didn't).

No matter the comparison, Sierra Ferrell is amazing.

Tuesday November 12, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3733

how can it be?

OK, so I heard this on the radio yesterday and immediately researched it when I got home.

"There's no way that's right," I said to myself.

And look, I have a lot of respect for Rachel Steele, the gravelly voiced on-air host on Sirius XM. I know she knows her stuff.

But I still didn't believe it.

"Queen has never won a Grammy award," she said on Monday afternoon.

I almost drove off the road.

There's no way that's true.

Right?

Queen. Freddie Mercury. Bohemian Rhapsody. You're My Best Friend. Another One Bites The Dust.

Come on, they have a Grammy or two. Maybe three. Right?

Nope. Rachel Steele was right. They don't have a single Grammy award to their name.

Queen.

Your mileage may vary on where, exactly, Freddie Mercury ranks on the all-time greatest rock vocalist list, but he's definitely top 10 and, perhaps, even top 5.

How on earth is it possible that Queen doesn't have a Grammy award?

---

You know who else doesn't have a Grammy award? Supertramp.

Well, technically they won one back in 1980 for a music video, but they've never won a Grammy for their music.

Breakfast in America was one of the best albums of 1980, if not the best. Alas, it didn't win.

Supertramp...no Grammy awards.

That one's hard to figure out as well.

Oh, and one quick note about Supertramp: Contrary to popular belief -- and album sales numbers -- their best album wasn't Breakfast in America.

Their best album was released in 1977 and it was called Even In The Quietest Moments.

Trust me on that one.

---

Billy Joel has been nominated 23 times and has won 6 Grammy awards for his music in his storied career.

I bring him up just in case you thought I was only centering on artists without Grammy awards.

Frankly, I would have thought Joel might be in double digits.

The Stranger and 52nd Street were/are arguably the best back-to-back albums in rock-n-roll history. Some folks would say Led Zeppelin put out five great albums in a row. Springsteen did himself proud with Born to Run and Darkness On The Edge Of Town.

But you'd be hard pressed to find two albums ring all the bells in succession like The Stranger and 52nd Street.

Billy Joel had a remarkable career.

---

OK, you mad yet?

"It's Ravens-Steelers week and this buffoon is talking about Queen and Grammy awards?"

Is that what you're thinking?

Relax. I'm just having fun.

Speaking of things you can file under: "How can it be?"

Glenn Clark and I will probably bring this one up tomorrow when I make my (mostly) weekly appearance on his show from 10 am to 12 noon (go to www.glennclarkradio if you'd like to tune in).

I do NOT remember the year this happened, but it was definitely at the peak of Ravens-Steelers sometime early in the Harbaugh/Flacco era.

It was a summer morning when Clark fielded an obscure call during my show. He came into the studio during a commercial break.

"Have you heard about this charity basketball game at North Harford High School?" he asked.

I hadn't heard about it.

"Someone just called the hotline and said the Pittsburgh Steelers have a team of players who are playing the North Harford High School faculty in a charity basketball game tonight."

It was the summer. Back then, the Orioles were horrible. And, by sometime in early June, the baseball team was a non-factor both on the field, in the stands and on the air.

I'd open the microphone every morning and rehash the 9-3 loss from the night before. If you think you're bored a week later listening to the folks on CNN still bellyaching about last week's election result, imagine how bored I was going on the air five mornings a week having to recap another O's home loss in front of 9.400 at the ballpark.

So when Clark delivered the news about the Steelers -- not the Ravens.....the FREAKIN' STEELERS -- invading Harford County and playing in a charity basketball game, we dove in with feet and arms flailing.

We got four days of content out of that incident.

"Phone lines are open," I would say all morning. "How do you feel about the Steelers being invited to North Harford High School this week?"

And we took call after call from irate Ravens fans who couldn't believe the school had the audacity to bring in the Ravens' #1 rival into our community.

True story: We had the County Executive of Harford County call into the show to defend the school and their right to have "anyone of their choosing" on their campus for a charity basketball game.

"No, you're wrong," I said to the County Executive. "You can't bring the Pittsburgh Steelers into Maryland and into Harford County and make them into a favored son."

That exchange got testy, as did the exchange we had with the school's principal, who also called into the show to defend the school and their decision to bring the Steelers to Harford County.

It was, of course, nothing more than a quasi-wrestling-skit.

The folks at North Harford High School were the heels and Clark and I were trying to be the baby faces.

We did find it kind of crazy that the Steelers were ushered into Harford County under a shroud of secrecy, but our bark on the subject was far worse than our bite.

It was the middle of the summer and the Orioles were awful.

What else were we going to talk about?

So we piled on the Steelers as much as we could and we crushed North Harford High School.

Four days of content we generated from the whole thing.

As they said at the beginning of All In The Family -- those were the days.

Back then, Ravens-Steelers was almost life and death.

Alas, this Sunday in Pittsburgh it will just be a football game.

Monday November 11, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3732

back to work "we" go

The Ravens will return to action next Sunday in Pittsburgh with first place on the line.

It's one of those games where people all week in Baltimore will be saying, "I hope we go in there and kick the snot out of those Steelers."

Harold brought up an interesting topic in the Comments section in regard to my use of the word "we" in yesterday's edition of #DMD.

It's something that used to bother me a lot when I was on the radio. Bob Haynie and I often talked about it. That is, the use of the word "we" by fans who were referencing their favorite team.

Alas, there is no "we", really.

There was a "we" when I worked for the Blast and Spirit indoor soccer teams. I could certainly use the word "we" to say, "We beat the Cleveland Force last night" or "We leave for the road trip tomorrow at 2:00 pm."

But "we", as it relates to the Orioles, Ravens, Capitals, etc.? It doesn't work for us regular folk.

In yesterday's piece about the history of the Colts in Baltimore, I included the move of the Browns to Baltimore in 1995/1996 and wrote about a conversation I had with my son recently when we (yes, the real "we") were watching the Colts play.

"Didn't we do the same thing to Cleveland in order to get the Ravens?" my son will then ask, bringing up another topic I'd rather not address.

"Well, yes we did," I say. "But that was different. We didn't take their uniforms, colors and history. We let Cleveland keep the "Browns". We did take their franchise, yes, and that wasn't very cool. But we did leave them with their history."

Funny enough, he also used the word "we" in the same way I did, referring to the body of Baltimore and the fan base as if we were somehow all responsible for the Browns moving to Baltimore.

---

This is where it gets sticky, because as Harold noted, there wasn't a vote.

There wasn't a vote to steal Cleveland's team from them.

There wasn't a vote to call the team the Baltimore "Browns" or some other name. In fact, you might recall, at the very first press conference announcing the move, there were shirts and other items sold bearing the name: Baltimore Browns.

Harold is right. "We" didn't vote. But "we" certainly didn't stand up and say, "No way, we're not being a party to a stolen team. We know how that feels. It ain't right."

We -- see, I still keep doing it -- got turned away at the altar by the NFL when they gave expansion teams to Jacksonville and Charlotte in 1995. Our presentation was supposedly "the best of them all", but the league went with two new cities instead of one proven city that deserved another franchise.

Jacksonville, as we now know, was an awful decision by the league. The team has never made an impact in that community, plays several games a year overseas now, and in various times in its history they draped off seats in the upper deck because they couldn't sell them.

Charlotte, everyone would admit, was a great decision back then. Charlotte was then what Nashville is now, meaning it was a growing, bustling city with a delightful climate and industrial and commercial opportunities that were bringing 20-somethings to the area in droves.

The Panthers have been very good for the league. Jacksonville, not so much.

But I digress.

When "we" didn't get an expansion team, it appeared to us at that point that the only way we were going to get a NFL team would be to steal one.

I don't know if that was accurate. Perhaps if we waited around a few more years, we would have been awarded the team in 1999 that the city of Cleveland got to replace the Browns. I have no idea, nor do I care to reflect on it all that much.

We stole the Browns from Cleveland in 1995 and football came back to Baltimore in 1996.

I say "we" stole the Browns even though it was really Art Modell who moved his team here. Indianapolis didn't really "steal" the Colts from us, per se. Bob Irsay moved his business -- a football team named the Colts -- from Baltimore to Indianapolis.

But it's all in the way its perceived.

And in our case, in 1995, we did to them what had been done to us.

I got a lot of heat when I was on the radio and the subject of the NFL Hall of Fame came up and we would do our own "mock voting" and I would refuse to vote for Art Modell.

To this day, I won't do it.

I said it back then and I will still say it today and I'm never going to change: "I won't vote for an owner to make the Hall of Fame who moved his team."

Hence, I would never vote for Modell. Not back then, not today and not tomorrow.

I know he let the Browns keep their history and that was very noble of him given what other franchises who moved did with their history, colors, etc.

But that was after he told Cleveland, "Sorry, next fall you're not going to have a football team to cheer for."

I know there are owners in the Hall of Fame who moved teams. That's all well and good, but that doesn't mean I have to support their inclusion and place in Canton. I wouldn't vote for Al Davis or Bob Irsay and I wouldn't vote for Art Modell, either.

But I'm grateful that Modell moved his Browns to Baltimore, which is always part of the odd juxtaposition I deal with when it comes to "cheering" for the Ravens.

I don't know that I've ever felt totally at peace with the Ravens, if I'm being honest, which I expect you want me to be here. I love the team and have a lot of friends in their front office, past and present.

Most times I'm perfectly fine with cheering for them and all.

Every once in a while, though, I remember...

And sometimes I don't like remembering that we took the Browns from Cleveland and turned them into the Ravens.

My son and daughter know nothing of the Colts in Baltimore. They only know the Ravens in Baltimore. Their respective lifelong positions on the Ravens will be different than mine.

---

That said, the one thing I will rail against forever is the history of the Baltimore Colts being identified with the history of the Indianapolis Colts. It drives me nuts to hear Johnny Unitas referenced as a "Colts record holder" or "it's the most catches by a Colts tight end in a game since the great John Mackey did it in 1967."

Right now, in fact, if you go to John Mackey's Wikipedia page and note his "Dates Joined" column, it reads: 1972 Los Angeles Chargers (wrong), 1963 Indianapolis (wrong).

They list Mackey's career in the NFL as "Indianapolis" even though he NEVER PLAYED A GAME IN THAT CITY.

It's maddening.

And if you were going to ask me what the biggest ownership mistake Steve Bisciotti ever made might be, I would tell you that it might of been his reluctance to fork over the reported $10 million the Colts wanted in exchange for returning the history of the pre-Indianapolis team back to Baltimore and the Ravens franchise.

$10 million is a lot of money to you and I. $10 million is a lot of money to most people, frankly.

$10 million to Bisciotti is (was) like your cousin Stacy asking you to loan them $500 so they can put a downpayment on a new condo in Ocean City.

It would have been the greatest investment of his life, with potentially no real return on it other than a portion of the fan base sleeping better at night knowing we'd never again have to hear a TV announcer say, "And with that completion, Andrew Luck has now surpassed Johnny Unitas as the Colts all-time leader in touchdown passes."

Editor's note: I'm have no idea if that actually happened. I'm just using it as an example.

Anyway, Harold's commentary about the use of the word "we" was interesting. "We" do it all the time. It's our team, after all. We don't own it, per se, but we do help fund it and keep it afloat.

And in the case of the Browns and the city of Cleveland, they got something that "we" didn't get it.

They got to keep their football legacy intact, albeit with a brief 3-year break in between.

If only "we" would have been that fortunate here in Baltimore.

Sunday November 10, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3731

on days like today, always remember

This one, today, is something you've seen in the past if you're a longtime visitor to #DMD.

I file it under "consumer service".

It's my favor to you.

Not all of you need it, mind you. Some people reading this today who are, say, in their 50's and 60's, will "get it" far more than will folks who are in their 20's and 30's.

But it's reading material for everyone because it's true. It's not fiction. It's not a story intended to shake you up. It really happened.

Today in the NFL, teams will play football and games will go on.

But on this Sunday, Baltimore won't have football. Washington D.C. will. Kansas City will. Charlotte will. Indianapolis will, too.

Baltimore, though, will be just a cozy east coast town with temperatures dipping down into the 40's and rain, finally, expected in the area sometime later today.

You might get out and do some yard work.

Maybe, like me, you'll find an hour or two to head the practice range or even get in 9 holes after church.

Perhaps you and your family are starting the early preparations for the holiday season today, getting the tree and light fixtures out of the basement.

One thing you won't be doing, though, is watching the Baltimore team play football this afternoon or tonight.

And that's how it was here every Sunday from 1984 through 1995.

It's here where I'll acknowledge we did get "football" back in Charm City in the aftermath of the Colts leaving, as the Canadian Football League spent two years in Baltimore in 1994 and 1995.

But no one really cared about the Stallions. It was like losing the Orioles and getting the Norfolk Tides to move to Baltimore and play their Triple A season(s) in Charm City.

Technically, it was football, but only because they used a football in the games.

---

We lost the Colts in March of 1984 and the Ravens didn't show up in Charm City until the 1996 season. Every Sunday in between during those 12 years, the rest of the country played NFL football and Baltimore didn't.

There are a lot of people in this town and perhaps a lot of people reading this today who have no real idea what it's like to not have football. My own children are prime examples. They know nothing but the Ravens.

My son never understands when I wax poetically about those gorgeous blue and white uniforms the Colts wear and he doesn't understand when I do a quick fist pump and say, "Way to go, Houston" when the scores roll across the bottom of the screen and it reads: Texans 23 - Colts 17 (F).

"What do you have against the Colts?" he'll ask.

"It's a long story," I always say. And then I leave it at that, mostly because I don't have it in me to go through the whole thing once again and, honestly, because it gets me agitated to a point I'd rather not show my children.

"We didn't have football here for 12 years because the owner moved the team from Baltimore to Indianapolis," I say. "So there's always a smart part of us here that still resents Indianapolis and the Colts."

"Even now?" he'll ask.

"Even now," I say, a little bit apprehensively and with shame in my voice.

But it can't be helped.

The Colts were everything to Baltimore.

Some people think Baltimore is a baseball town.

Baltimore is a football town, plain and simple. And when the Colts were here and the days were good and the owner was sane, Baltimore loved the Colts five times more than it has ever loved the Orioles.

And that's not being disrespectful to the Orioles. That's showing the old Colts the ultimate level of respect.

"Didn't we do the same thing to Cleveland in order to get the Ravens?" my son will then ask, bringing up another topic I'd rather not address.

"Well, yes we did," I say. "But that was different. We didn't take their uniforms, colors and history. We let Cleveland keep the "Browns". We did take their franchise, yes, and that wasn't very cool. But we did leave them with their history."

And Cleveland, of course, went three years without football. Baltimore went twelve years without it. That might be splitting hairs, but three years and twelve years are vastly different.

---

Fast forward to now.

Baltimore has had the Ravens since 1996 and anyone, let's round it off, who was born in 1985 or later never really knew the Colts as "our team" anyway.

If you're 40 years old this year, the Ravens is all you know, football wise.

If you're 30 years old this year, you've only ever rooted for the Ravens (presumably) if you were born and raised in Baltimore.

You're lucky.

And, so, today, use the occasion of the Ravens having an "off Sunday" to feel what it must have been like in 1992 when there was no football team here.

The games were still on television, except, as a sample of what you're going to watch today, you'd be forced to view the Steelers/Commanders game from D.C. at 1 pm and then, at 4:25 pm, you'd be force-fed the Eagles/Cowboys clash from Dallas.

Fall and winter were lonely times around here, trust me.

And they were particularly lonely for people who are now in their 60's and beyond because our Sunday afternoons were filled with trips to Memorial Stadium to watch the Colts or family gatherings around the TV or radio to take in away games.

When they took football away from us in 1984, the city didn't know what to do.

Ironically, the team I worked for at the time, the Blast, didn't really benefit from the Colts leaving. If anything, it hurt us. Our best attendance years were in 1981, 1982 and 1983, when we sold out the arena 56 straight times during that span.

Our crowds were still in the 10,000 range in 1985 and 1986 when the first years of no-football-in-Baltimore were felt, but a big piece of Baltimore died when the Colts left in 1984.

Fortunately, this history lesson ends on a good note.

We have the Ravens.

They're a great franchise.

They win almost every year.

And, for a lot of people, they don't know about the pain of losing a beloved team.

That said, people tend to get out of hand when things don't their way.

Look no further than what happened in the aftermath of last Tuesday's election, with thousands of videos popping up of people reacting angrily and "losing their minds" because they didn't get their way when the results were announced.

Everyone knows how to win.

Very few people know how to lose.

And, so, when the Ravens do lose improbably to someone like the Raiders or Browns, folks can't handle it. And they say and do things they shouldn't do as a reaction to that.

Sometimes, even when the Ravens win, people do dumb things, as we saw a few weeks back with the incident near the stadium that landed a local man in jail.

But the premise of this piece today is to simply remind you that above all, more than anything else, you should simply always give thanks that we have a football team here.

Sure, you can rail against the secondary when they drop a sure-fire interception or you can howl at the moon about the defense giving up two late touchdowns in a (rare) loss to a division rival.

But don't let that ever be more important than the fact that you, me, us -- we have the Ravens.

Today, there are no games.

Not for Baltimore, anyway.

We felt "like this" for 12 years.

Just always remember that.

Having a team, no matter their record, is always better than not having a team.

	WILL JACKSON and his weekly NFL picks
Will Jackson will be here every Sunday during the NFL season with his thoughts on games and prop bets that will hopefully yield positive results for you.

I'm closing in on having a good week against the spread for everyone, but my prop bets features are doing very well so far in the 2024 season. I'm now a 64% for props. I hope to continue that for you today and get my game picks right as well.

Game picks

Carolina +6.5 vs. New York Giants

Bears -6 vs. New England

Colts +4 vs. Buffalo

Broncos +7.5 at Kansas City

49'ers -6.5 at Tampa Bay

Commanders -2.5 vs. Pittsburgh

Lions -3.5 at Houston

Prop bets

Caleb Williams (Chi) over 203.5 yards passing

Josh Allen (Buff) over 203.5 yards passing

Travis Kelce (KC) anytime touchdown scorer

Patrick Mahomes (KC) over 0.5 touchdown passes in both halves

Baker Mayfield (TB) over 1.5 touchdown passes

Russell Wilson (Pitt) under 203.5 yards passing

Jayden Daniels (Wash) over 1.5 touchdown passes

Jared Goff (Det) over 203.5 yards passing

Saturday November 9, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3730

saturday q and a

It's been so long since I've done a mailbag piece I have questions in the folder from late September.

I'll try to do this more regularly in the future, but, you know, baseball playoffs and the Ravens defense giving up 30 points per-game gets in the way.

There was an interesting story that developed late Friday afternoon when it was learned that the Auburn basketball team's chartered flight had to return to their original airport in Alabama.

No, they didn't have mechanical issues or some other plate-related emergency. Everything was fine in that regard.

Instead, they had to return to the airport mid-flight because a fight broke out within the team and the flight attendants were concerned for their safety.

I know what you're thinking: Aren't they all on the same team?

Indeed they are.

Auburn officials aren't saying much but one story reported by a school-centric website says there was "general horseplay" in the back of the plane that somehow got out of hand and escalated into a scuffle among two players.

The Tigers were headed for Houston for a game with the Cougars tonight when the plane was diverted back to the airport. A replacement flight took off without incident later on Friday and the team arrived in Houston just before midnight last night.

The times sure have changed.

I traveled by air for 17 years when I was in the soccer business and all any of the players ever wanted to do on the plane was sleep.

Some of us played cards or chess, but for the most part, catching up on sleep was the favorite activity on our flights.

Imagine being the coach of the team and having one of the flight attendants come up to the front and tell you there's a fight in the back of the airplane.

It would be like the famous Charley Eckman scene when he got fired in Fort Wayne and the owner said, "We're making a change in your department" and Charley quickly realized he was the only person in his department.

"Sir, we have to turn around and go back to the airport. There's a flight on the plane."

"Oh for heaven's sake. That's absurd. We have a basketball game to play tomorrow night and a 7 pm walk through tonight in the arena. Who are the idiots that are fighting? Can't we just cuff them to the seat and keep on flying to Houston?"

"Sir, they're apparently your basketball players. You're the only people on the plane, remember?"

"Oh, yes. You're correct."

Kids, huh?

G.M. asks -- "Jayden Daniels of the Commanders is starting to draw a lot of MVP talk. Is there any way he's a better candidate for the award than Lamar?"

DF says -- "First off, let me state the obvious. We don't like to admit this at parties, but it's true. We always value our players on a different level than we value others.

I don't follow the Commanders even remotely as close as I follow the Ravens. On a scale of 1-to-10, I follow the Ravens about an 8.8 and I follow the Commanders about 1.1.

Daniels is certainly having an excellent season. He is, for sure, one of the top new players in the league. And it's definitely fair to say that without him, the Commanders would look a lot more like the Saints and Giants.

And to that end, maybe he is the most "valuable" player in the league. But all we're doing with that award is splitting hairs, anyway.

No player is more important to his team than Mahomes is to Kansas City. Shouldn't he be the MVP?

But, wait. No one is more important to their team than Lamar. I mean, without him, the Ravens lose every game. I would think that makes him the MVP.

Hold on, though. Could you imagine where Buffalo would be without Josh Allen? They'd be 4-13 at best.

You get the picture.

To me, the MVP award is really the "This guy had the best season of anyone in the league" award. It's not about "valuable", it's about "excellence in performance".

That's how I see it.

And that's why Lamar should win it.

Jayden Daniels is a nice player, for sure. But he's not a better quarterback than Lamar Jackson. Not this year, anyway."

Rob asks -- "Hi Drew, I saw you at the Calvert Hall vs. McDonogh soccer game last night (Oct. 25) and had a general soccer question I thought you could answer. What could be done to create more scoring in the game? I'm not a soccer expert by any means. My nephews plays for McDonogh and I've been to several games this year and it seems like only 1 goal or 2 goals are scored every time. Is there something that can be done about having more goals scored?"

DF says -- "I'm not going to push back hard on your "we need more goals" request, but I've said this forever about soccer. I'm not sure we -- the American sporting public -- want to see more "goals", per se. What we want to see are more goal scoring opportunities. More action in front of net. More chances to score.

If they go in, that's great.

But what we're really looking for, in simple terms, is more action.

Now, as a result of what I'd offer as a remedy, more goals would be scored, I think. But more than anything else, it would create a lot more action in and around the goal box (within 18 yards).

This one is easy: Get rid of offsides if the ball is played within your half of the field.

Offsides in soccer is not only stupid, it actually happens more than shots on goal in almost every game.

Look at most stat sheets of high school soccer games. There are 6 or 8 shots on goal and at least 10 offsides calls. And don't confuse shots on goal with "shots taken" (balls that are blocked, go wide, go over the bar, etc.).

Offsides might be the dumbest rule in all of sports. Like, ALL sports. Everywhere.

"Hey, let's create a rule that routinely diminishes goal scoring chances in every game by, oh, 75%."

Without those ticky-tack offsides calls where the offending player was drawing no real advantage, anyway, you're keeping the game moving and creating more action in the final third of the field. It's a no brainer to get rid of offsides. But they never do."

Ray asks -- "I have reached out to you before with this request. In fact last year at this time you gave me Xander Schauffele and the year before that you gave me Wyndham Clark. So I'm coming back to you again for your help. Every December my golf group friends (15 of us now) get together for a holiday party and we all put a $100 bill into an envelope and pick four players who have never won a major in golf and then we total up how much money they win in majors next year and all of the prize money goes to the guy who picks the best four man lineup. Who would your four players be for next golf season?"

DF says -- "So you're really trying to figure out which player without a major might win one because he'll almost assuredly win you the most money. That's what it seems like. So let's come up with four guys who could win their first major next year.

The most obvious and easiest guy that will probably be on everyone's list is Ludvig Aberg. He's going to win several of them in his career. As long as he's healthy moving forward (he had some knee issues in 2024), he's a no-brainer for your list.

The other name almost everyone will put on their list is Patrick Cantlay. He has to win one soon and a couple of major courses in '25 (Oakmont CC and Quail Hollow) are big ballparks where he can air out the driver. Putting has always been his achilles heel in majors, but that was also Schauffele's issue and he fixed that in 2024.

Aberg and Cantlay are "chalk" picks, but they're also guys who are likely to win a major. It's hard to leave them off the list.

For the third pick, how about Rickie Fowler?

(I'm kidding. I just wanted to make George spit out his coffee).

I'll give you two semi-long-shots. Both are familiar names. And they potentially won't be on the list of others in the group which could help you if they have high finishes in majors but don't win.

Akshay Bhatia is the first one. The PGA is in Charlotte. He lives in the Wake Forest area and has played a lot of his golf in the state of North Carolina. Bhatia is a terrific player.

And I think Sam Burns is potentially the 2025 version of Wyndham Clark-2023. Burns is a very nice player who hasn't always hit on all cylinders during major championships. He's too good to not win one. Let's go with him to finish out your four-man team.

Matt Elmore asks -- "Hi DF, any chance the Ravens are going to fire Zach Orr during this 10-day period between last night's game (Thursday) and the Steelers game in Pittsburgh. He has to go."

DF says -- "I'd be very surprised if he gets fired. It's just not the Ravens way of doing things. They brought in Dean Pees to help Orr, obviously. That was a big enough admission from the Ravens that something is wrong defensively.

But firing the coordinator mid-season seems like a bit of an overreaction.

Now, they do have Pees in-house right now, so if they decided to pull the plug on Orr, Pees could slip right in and take over. What that move would yield is anyone's guess.

The reality is this: I don't think Zach Orr is the reason why Marcus Williams, Eddie Jackson and Brandon Stephens have all been lit up this year. I don't think Zach Orr is the reason why Kyle Hamilton didn't seal that Browns game with the interception in the final minute.

Is Zach Orr "struggling" with his schemes and in-game-play-calls? Maybe. I don't have that kind of discerning eye.

But his players are letting him down, big time, as Marlon Humphrey mentioned earlier this week when he met with the media.

I don't think they're firing Zach Orr. Would I be "stunned beyond belief" if they fired him? No. But it just doesn't seem like the sort of move the Ravens make, particularly with someone they just gave the job to last January."

Friday November 8, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3729

take the win and move on

Yeah, it was a tad lucky.

I've never been afraid to embrace good luck when it comes my way.

The refs helped us late in the game, which is far better than the refs hurting us late in the game.

And Cincinnati's goofy coach lost his mind with 38 seconds left in the game when the Bengals scored a touchdown to make the score 35-34.

All of those things added up to a nailbiting 35-34 Ravens win over the Bengals, which pretty much extinguishes Cincinnati's fire for the '24 season. And the victory moves the Ravens to 7-3 and gives them a 10-day recovery stretch before they head to Pittsburgh for a showdown with the overrated Steelers on November 17.

Zach Orr...

Zach Orr...

Are you there, Zach?

The embattled defensive coordinator once again got his hat handed to him on Thursday night, as this time it was the only guy on the Bengals he needed to focus on -- Ja'Marr Chase -- who tortured the Ravens for 60 minutes.

Chase caught 11 balls for 264 yards and 3 touchdowns.

I know what you're thinking. And you're wrong.

Chase didn't catch 21 balls for 464 yards. It just felt like that.

Joe Burrow went 34/56 for 428 yards and four TD throws. He got hammered all night but stayed the course and earned some bonus points for taking a beating and bouncing back up every time. But in the end, it wasn't enough, despite Zach Orr's flimsy defense and a secondary that was once again throttled time and time again.

A win's a win, of course. And Burrow and Chase are perhaps the league's most impressive QB-WR combination in all of football.

But something has to happen with this Ravens defense. And quickly.

I mean, unreliable called the Ravens today and said he was losing faith in their defense.

It's not good.

Dean Pees was brought in last month to help Orr find his way in his rookie campaign as the team's defensive coordinator, but that hasn't done much of anything.

What's Greg Mattison doing? Is he around?

Orr, of course, isn't entirely to blame. Brandon Stephens was lit up like a doobie at a Dave Matthews Band show and Roquan Smith lumbered around the field like he had a piano on his back all night. Coaches coach and players play. That's what they say, anyway. And the Ravens are struggling, personnel wise, on the defensive side of the ball.

If Kyle Hamilton's injury is serious, the Ravens are in deep doo-doo.

In hockey and basketball, players can get assists on scoring plays.

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor should get an assist from the Ravens for the completely bizarre decision to go for 2 points on the Bengals final touchdown of the night with 38 seconds remaining.

No matter if the Bengals kick the extra point to tie it there and convert the 2-pointer to go ahead, Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore offense were still going to get the ball back and would only need a field goal to win the game.

There was only ONE way you could lose the game: By going for two and not getting it. That was it. You weren't going to win the game outright by going for two points there. You were only giving yourself the lead. But while you couldn't win the game right then, you could definitely lose it right then.

Editor's note: Yes, I'm aware the Bengals could have recovered an onside kick and scored thereafter.

There were two ways you could win the game: Convert the 2 point conversion and hold the Ravens offense in the final 38 seconds.

Kick the game-tying extra point, hold the Ravens in the final 38 seconds, and then win the game in OT.

Either way, you were still going to have to hold the Ravens for the final 38 seconds.

Goofy Zac Taylor went for two, didn't get it, and the game was over.

If there's 5 or 10 seconds left, it's a different story.

There were 38 seconds left no matter if you kick the extra-point or go for two. So you kick it and play defense, hoping to hold them off and get the game to overtime, where anything could happen.

I mean, yes, I'm glad Zac Taylor flubbed that one. But I'm amazed by it, still. These dudes get $5 million or more to coach and then the simplest thing(s) are impossible for them to grasp in the heat of the moment.

You know what they say: Bengals gonna Bengals. Always.

We'll go back into the stall for a minute and beat the horse a little more to make sure he's dead.

This Ravens defense is beyond inept.

If not for Lamar, they'd be a 2-8 team.

While they did get some decent pressure on Burrow throughout Thursday night's game, he still embarrassed Zach Orr's group time and time again, playing pitch and catch with Ja'Marr Chase like you throw the baseball to your 10-old nephew Nico at the family picnic in August.

They better figure something out.

Or, as I wrote here earlier this week, they need to simply score 35 or 40 points every week and hang on for dear life like they did on Thursday night.

And let's remember this: They won't go up against an overmatched coach every week, either.

Things need to shape up on defense or the Ravens are going to waste a 3rd MVP campaign by Lamar Jackson.

faith in sports

Once a year, I show you this video featuring Inky Johnson.

We listen to albums all the time. Same songs. Same music. Same lyrics. But we listen over and over.

Sometimes we watch the same movie numerous times.

I probably watch something from Inky Johnson once a month. This one, which centers on his "life story" and how he grew in his faith after a life changing incident, is my favorite of them all.

If you've never seen it, please give this video 10 minutes of your attention. You won't regret doing that.

If you've seen it before, you know it's worth watching again. And again.

Please carve out 10 minutes of your day today and watch the video below.

Thanks, as always, to our friends at Freestate Electrical for their continued support of #DMD and our "Faith in Sports" segment here every Friday.

Thursday November 7, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3728

"we're on to pittsburgh"

A lot of my friends are worried about this Thursday night home clash with the Bengals.

I had to remind them yesterday they were also worried about the Broncos on Sunday and, well, we know how that one went.

This one should be a "W" for the Ravens, all things being equal.

Sure, they might have a better wide receiver (Chase), but that's about the only key piece in Cincinnati that is a notch above what the Ravens offer. And Zay Flowers, while perhaps not being Ja'Marr Chase, isn't chopped liver, either.

Our quarterback is better. Our running back is way better. Our tight ends are better and, in general, everything about the Baltimore offense is better.

Neither defense is great. I think we all know that. But in Baltimore, tonight, I suspect Zach Orr's rises to the occasion in front of a national TV audience.

And by "rise to the occasion", I'm talking about only allowing, say, 20-something points in 60 minutes.

It's funny how times change, huh? The Baltimore defense allowing something around 24 points is now known as "rising to the occasion".

Anyway...

Be honest. If I told you I saw the script for tonight's contest and the Baltimore defense allows, say, 24 points, you'd think the Ravens were going to win. Right?.

I just don't see how Cincinnati comes into Baltimore and wins.

Could they? Sure. Unlike Denver last week, who had zero chance, the Bengals, if their chakras are in line, can put up a lot of points. And they do have enough prior success in the Joe Burrow era to know how to win games, even games against upgraded opponents like Baltimore.

It won't happen, though.

I can see this one being somewhat close. It's a divisional game, after all. And at 4-5, while it's not "must" win for the Bengals, they're starting to see how the season unfolds and, given their upcoming schedule, they know a win tonight would be huge for their playoff hopes.

I could be wrong on this and the 60 minutes of action on the field will prove me right or not. I think Cincinnati mans up tonight.

It's 7-7 after one quarter as Lamar hits Mark Andrews for a TD pass and Burrow finds his favorite target, Ja'Marr Chase, on a TD throw of his own.

The Ravens lead at the half, 21-14, with Derrick Henry scoring a touchdown for the 10th straight game late in the second quarter.

A Tucker field goal makes it 24-14, but Burrow again hits Ja'Marr Chase with a TD throw against embattled Brandon Stephens, making the score 24-21 heading into the 4th quarter.

Justin Tucker hits an early 4th quarter field goal to make it 27-21. The Ravens then intercept Burrow on the ensuing drive to get the ball right back.

Lamar leads the Ravens on a 10-play, 5-minute drive and scampers in himself from 5 yards out to make it 34-21.

The Bengals connect on a 48-yard field goal with 6:30 left in the game to make it 34-24.

Cincy then gets a turnover of their own and they march down the field, only to be stopped on the 12 yard line. The field goal makes it 34-27, Ravens in front.

The next drive decides the game. On 4th and 2 from the Cincinnati 40 yard line, Lamar and Harbaugh decide to go for it, and Derrick Henry bulls his way to 3 yards as the 2 minute warning hits.

The Bengals use their time outs wisely and Baltimore faces a 4th and 2 again as the two minute warning hits. This time, Harbaugh sends Justin Tucker on the field for a 47-yard field goal attempt. Tucker connects to make the score 37-27 and that's how it ends on a warm November night in Baltimore.

Ravens 37 - Bengals 27.

We're on to Pittsburgh.

I'm starting to think there's actually a good chance that Alex Ovechkin is going to break Wayne Gretzky's career goal scoring record this season.

Honestly, I didn't think there was any way possible Ovi would do it in '24-25. He went into the season needing 41 goals to tie the mark and he already has eight this season after tallying the game-winner in last night's 3-2 home triumph over Nashville.

He's 23 games ahead of his goal-scoring pace from a season ago. He didn't score his 8th goal until the 35th game in 2023-2024.

His current pace puts him at 55 goals for the '24-25 campaign, but I don't see that happening. If he breaks the record, that's impressive enough.

What's interesting about this season, per se, is that Ovi is well known for his slow starts. I fully expected him to be at 5 goals at the 15 game mark and, maybe, 10 goals at the 30-game point of the season. I assumed Ovi would score 35 this season and need 6 more in '25-26 to tie the mark and 7 to break it and he'd get those early next season.

If he can get to 20 goals by the 35-game point of this season, he definitely stands a chance of scoring 21/22 more in the final 47 games of the season. And all of that, obviously, is barring some sort of injury that derails him.

Oh, and here's the oher thing: The Caps are actually pretty good. Better than "pretty good", actually.

Maybe it's just early-bird-gets-the-worm or something of that nature and they're playing over their heads while the other teams in the league find their sea legs, but this D.C. team looks like they might make some noise. I didn't see it coming. Not this season, anyway.

A solid team and an historic goal-scoring chase. All in one season? This really is The Land of Pleasant Living after all.

For starters, other than one or two jabs in the comments section below, most of you stayed away from political commentary here yesterday in the aftermath of Tuesday's election.

I thank you for that.

I'd like it to stay that way, too, please.

Now is the time for all of us to get together, accept what happened on Tuesday, and try to make this country the place we want it to be.

How you decide to do that is, of course, up to you.

But what won't get us anywhere is being uncivil to one another.

So let's not do that here. Or anywhere, for that matter.

But here, in particular, it's important for all of us to just move on and let the powers-that-be handle the transition.

Thank you, again, for keeping this place relatively clean and free of political ramblings over the last six months.

Wednesday November 6, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3727

just score more points than the other guy

So, it's safe to say the Ravens philosophy for the rest of the 2024 season is this: Offense first.

Eric DeCosta did make a deal on Tuesday afternoon but it was for oft-injured ex-Rams cornerback Tre'Davious White, who was a healthy scratch in L.A.'s four most recent games.

Twitter and Ravens-centric websites lit up with criticism for DeCosta after the 4 pm deadline passed yesterday, but the reality is White, much like Diontae Johnson last week, didn't cost the Ravens much of anything. DeCosta swapped 7th round picks to get White, who suffered a torn achilles with the Bills last season and simply never fit in out in Los Angeles.

The issue, of course, is just how much will White help the struggling Ravens pass defense, which currently ranks last in the NFL through nine games?

And on top of that, why didn't DeCosta add a pass rush specialist or even an interior defensive lineman instead of a defensive back?

Did Las Vegas not want to part with Maxx Crosby or did the Ravens pass on him because the price was too rich for their blood?

Only the GM knows the answer to those questions.

Maybe the price tag was too steep. Perhaps no one in the league wanted to go out of their way to help the Ravens. Perhaps DeCosta, Harbaugh, Monken, Orr, et al simply believe the way to go is to emphasize offense to the hilt and take what you can get on defense.

I'll do what I generally do in situations like these.

That is........

I'll trust the guy who does it for a living and eats, breathes and poops football.

I'll trust the guy who thought Derrick Henry would be a great addition to the Baltimore offense.

I'll trust the guy who picked up Roquan Smith at the deadline last season.

I'll trust the guy who picked Zay Flowers #1 in the draft a couple of years ago.

Sure, DeCosta is also the guy who brought in Earl Thomas. He has a few whiffs here and there as well. Every GM does, in fact.

But in the end, I'm going to assume the Ravens and their GM have a plan in place.

My guess is they're just going to try to out-Lamar-Jackson everyone. And here's the thing. I'm all for it. They might have to win big games 33-30 or 34-27, but so be it. It's not "how" you win games. It's "how many" games you win.

So, if you came around here today to see me beat up on Eric DeCosta, you're going to be disappointed.

I reacted the same in late July when Mike Elias added his pieces for the final two months of the regular season.

Zach Eflin was a winner. Eloy Jimenez was a loser. Trevor Rogers was a flop. A couple of other guys helped out here and there, but for the most part, Elias added pieces he thought would help and then Jordan Westburg got hurt and everything changed.

DeCosta added two pieces. I didn't think either of them were "necessary", per se, but if Diontae Johnson hauls in a 33 yard game-winning touchdown pass with 1:30 to go in the AFC title game in Kansas City, his addition was beneficial.

I'm going to trust the guy who forgot more about football than you, me, and all of our friends will ever know.

The Ravens have the best quarterback in football and the best running back, too.

If those guys stay healthy and the likes of Flowers, Andrews, Likely, Bateman don't get hurt, the Ravens are going to put up 30-burgers on almost every team they face.

As long as they only give up 20-burgers along the way, we're fine.

Speaking of the Orioles and their roster, there's probably no real reason for any of us to get overly excited about the upcoming hot stove period.

Here's the deal: Unless they're willing to give up on some veterans, they simply don't have many open spots to fill. Right field is obviously vacant at this point unless the O's somehow convince Anthony Santander to return.

And maybe they are going to part ways with guys like Cedric Mullins and Ryan Mountcastle, but who comes in when those two depart?

Here's the quick position-by-position look at the '25 Orioles.

Catcher: Rutschman returns, obviously, but he's not "full time" behind the plate.

They need a competent back-up. James McCann is a free agent now, but if the O's want him back, I'm guessing he'll return. If 2024 is any indication of what the club will do in 2025, they need someone to catch 75 games while Rutschman picks up the rest of them.

First base: Ryan Mountcastle and Ryan O'Hearn will likely continue their platoon formula. That is, unless Mountcastle gets dealt in the off-season.

Second base: Jackson Holliday

Shortstop: Gunnar Henderson

Third base: Jordan Westburg

Left field: Heston Kjersted/Colton Cowser.

Center field: Cedric Mullins/Colton Cowser.

Right field: vacant

Now....

Coby Mayo is going to be a popular discussion point in the winter. What to do with him?

And there are a couple of right field free agents available who would fit in with the way Mike Elias likes to compile his roster: Randal Grichuk and Max Kepler are two names you're going to hear and read as potential Orioles over the cold months ahead.

There are numerous quality free agent pitchers available. Guys like Max Fried, Walker Buehler, Blake Snell and Yusei Kikuchi are going to be expensive, but they have lots of life left in their pitching arms.

Others like Jose Quintana, Alex Cobb and Patrick Corbin are old, but probably willing to sign one or two year deals just to make one more financial splash before hanging 'em up.

The Orioles are in good shape for 2025.

They need a starting pitcher or two, and don't forget Kyle Bradish is set to return sometime after June 1st.

They could always use a "real" right fielder, but if it turns out they go with someone like Grichuk or Kepler (or both), it wouldn't be the end of the world.

I wouldn't be opposed to seeing Pete Alonso in Baltimore.

Max Fried is my personal pick for a free agent pitcher.

If we got those two, I'd be thrilled.

But I'll trust Mike Elias to piece it together the best way he sees fit.

One thing I'm not counting on is some kind of huge financial splash where the Orioles pony up $400 million for Soto or $300 million for Burnes. That's just not his, or the organization's, style.

Tuesday November 5, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3726

today, november 5, is the day

Today is the big day.

All I can say is this: I hope we get the right guy.

We've been talking about it for a while now: "What are we going to do on November 5?"

I guess some of it depends on what happens in places like North Carolina and New York. There's even a chance California and Nevada are going to matter this time around.

Whatever the case, I suspect some people in those places are going to be happy and some are going to be disappointed.

I know, selfishly, I just hope we pick the right guy.

Like, prying Maxx Crosby away from the Las Vegas would be ideal. He'd be target #1 if I'm Eric DeCosta.

The Ravens might have to settle for someone like Jadeveon Clowney from Charlotte to fill their pass rushing needs. If so, that's fine. But I'd like to do better.

Clowney instead of Crosby would be akin to going down to Pinehurst for golf and having the pro shop tell you #2 is closed for maintenance but you can still play #7. #7 is excellent. But #2 is the mecca.

Editor's note: If you do get down to Pinehurst to play golf, please do play #7. It's the second best course in their rotation at the resort (although, admittedly, I haven't played the new, ultra-private #10).

There are other pass rush options available to the Ravens today and perhaps DeCosta winds up snagging one of them instead of Crosby or Clowney. If so, that works as well.

But the Ravens need to get someone today and he needs to be the right choice.

Like that other "thing" going on in our country today, talk is cheap. Eventually, someone is going to get elected to run this place and then we'll see if he or she are full of hot air with all of their campaign promises or if they really can do the things they say they can.

The same goes for the Ravens and their quest to get to the Super Bowl. Talk is cheap. You're 6-3 and clearly on a collision course to play Kansas City for the AFC title in January. Are you going to put your best foot forward today, in the waning hours of the trade deadline, or are you going to say, "We're good enough right now, thank you very much."?

You would hope the Ravens learned something from the Orioles this past July.

Given a chance to take their team from modest contender to big time contender, the Orioles flopped at the deadline.

Let's hope DeCosta doesn't face the same fate after today.

Go get a couple of defensive pieces and let's sew up this trip to the Super Bowl.

Please.....let's get at least one thing right on November 5.

The Orioles made some news on Monday by keeping a few veteran pieces for 2025 and declining the option on a reliable relief pitcher.

Seranthony Dominguez, Cionel Perez and Ryan O'Hearn all had their options picked up for next season. No great surprise on any of the three. They're (relatively) cheap and moderately productive. Perez might have been the one thought to be the most expendable given his hot-and-cold performance, but at $2.2M next season, he's a baseball bargain.

Perez is like an Oakmont CC Peter Millar shirt you find at a thrift shop for $10. It looks fine. Almost brand new, in fact. It's your size. At some point it cost someone $125 in the pro shop at Oakmont. You can buy it for $10. It's not brand new, but it will do the job.

That's Cionel Perez. He's a $125 shirt you can get for $10.

Seranthony Dominguez showed some good signs after coming over from Philadelphia at the trade deadline, but he's no Mariano Rivera. That said, he comes in at $8 million. "Cheap" by Major League standards.

O'Hearn is a reasonably competent Major League player. He can hit both right handed and left handed pitching and has some occasional pop in his bat. He's no Pete Alonso, but he also costs about $20 million less than Alonso, don't forget.

The odd guy out was the most surprising of them all. Danny Coulombe is now a free agent after the O's declined his $4 million option for 2025. When healthy, Coulombe was outstanding.

Those two words, "when healthy", were apparently what scared Mike Elias off.

"He's 35 and he's dinged up," an O's associate told me on Monday when I asked about the decision on Coulombe. "In fairness to the player, Mike (Elias) isn't going to broadcast that. But there's some concern about his arm moving forward."

The O's also haven't written Coulombe out of their 2025 picture entirely.

"He's probably going to get a deal with someone," the associate tells #DMD. "But if he doesn't get anything there will always be a low risk opportunity with us next spring in Sarasota."

The O's also made qualifying offers to Corbin Burnes and Anthony Santander, both for just over $20 million annually.

Neither of those will be accepted, of course, and both Burnes and Santander will hit the free agent market later this month.

Burnes will wind up in California at (at least) $40 million annually, either with the Dodgers (70%) or the Giants (30%).

Santander might -- look away if this bothers you -- be the next right fielder for the Yankees if they fail to keep Juan Soto. Failing that, Santander finishes in San Francisco at $27.5 million a year for 4 years.

It's good work if you can get it, folks.

Last but not least, please remember to get out and vote today at your nearest polling place.

There's no need to take your ID with you, as we somehow don't require you to prove who you are in this state.

But please get out and vote for your candidate of choice, both in the Presidential race and in the local races of importance.

Monday November 4, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3725

another pretender exposed

Sure, the Broncos pressed the Ravens early-on yesterday and it coulda, shoulda, woulda been a lot closer if not for a couple of failed 4th down conversions.

But you know the joke about "if" and my Aunt Betty, right?

Of course you do.

The Broncos came to town with a 5-3 record and the opportunity prove they might be a legit quasi-contender in the AFC.

They hopped on the plane back to Denver early Sunday evening with a 5-4 record and the knowledge they're far from being a prime time player.

I know it's a week-to-week league and anything can happen on any given Sunday, but if Baltimore and Denver played 5 times, the Ravens win all 5. And if they happen to only win 4 of the 5, it would be because the Ravens defense has one of their filed-for-patent 4th quarter collapses that always lurking in the back of our minds.

The Ravens are much better than the Broncos, as the 41-10 thumping in Baltimore showed yesterday.

Denver, in fact, should enjoy being above .500 while they can.

After next week's loss in Kansas City, they'll be 5-5. They then have the Falcons at home, which is definitely a toss-up. The Broncos will need to get to 10 wins to make the post-season, you would think. They do have the Raiders, Browns and Bengals left on their slate which might get them to 8 wins, but they'll need to beat some real teams, too.

I might be wrong, but I don't see Denver beating anyone of substance.

But enough about the visitors and the Cleat of Reality they encountered on Sunday.

The Ravens are rolling.

They'll clobber the Bengals this Thursday night, of course, to get to 7-3, and then it's on to Pittsburgh for the November 17 showdown with the Steelers, who will have their hands full next Sunday vs. Washington.

Sunday's throttling of the Broncos didn't come without a couple of asterisks, though.

The Ravens defense still doesn't have its chakras in line.

There's very little pass rush to speak of.

Baltimore's run defense wasn't great, allowing 122 yards on the ground.

Denver was 6-of-14 on third down.

And even though Bo Nix looked like a rookie on a few occasions, he also did a nice job under the duress of a big-time mid-season game on the road. Whether Nix someday leads Sean Payton's team to the promised land is obviously not known, but he doesn't look like a scrub, either.

All of that points to tomorrow's NFL trade deadline and the question continues to loom: Will Eric DeCosta make a deal or two that helps bolster Baltimore's occasionally soft defense?

It would sure help if he acquired a pass rusher, for starters.

What the Ravens have now in that category isn't good enough.

But back to Sunday for a second: the Broncos were what we thought they were.

And the Ravens are what we think they are.

They are so explosive on offense that any defensive warts are all but forgotten.

Yes, they're still in need of tightening up on the defensive side of the ball. They need one or two guys on the edge to chase the quarterback and they still need some secondary help.

But on a great day the Ravens can tack on 40 or more points against you.

On a good day, they're hitting 30 or more almost every time.

And if somehow the Ravens offense sputters, they're still going to put up somewhere in the 24-point range against you.

That 17-10 playoff to the Chiefs last year?

There's just no way that can happen this January. I'm not saying the Chiefs can't beat the Ravens. We know they can.

But they're not holding the Ravens to 10 points. Or even 17 points.

Baltimore is going to put points up, in any game, home or away, against any opponent. You'll have to outscore Lamar Jackson to beat the Ravens.

I'm not sure if you've checked airfare to New Orleans for that first full week of February, but you might want to start looking into it.

Hotels down there are going to be expensive. Just be prepared.

Game tickets will be through the roof, especially if the Lions get in for the first time ever.

Start saving your money.

There's still football to be played, obviously, and one wrong step, one knee injury and one "bad" MRI, and everything changes.

But all things being equal and the Ravens staying relatively healthy gives them a simple, easy path to the AFC title game.

From there, it's just exorcising those demons against the Chiefs and then it's on to New Orleans.

You remember New Orleans, don't you? The last time the Ravens won a Super Bowl, that's where the game was played.

A tip from the top: Make your travel plans early to get the best deals.

Even though the Caps lost yesterday in Carolina, 4-2,, Alex Ovechkin notched his 7th goal of the season to hit the 860 mark for his storied career.

The chase, now, is officially on.

Starting tomorrow, we'll be following along here with our "Ovi Goal Chase" box on the right side of #DMD.

Wayne Gretzky's career record of 894 goals is going to be eclipsed by Ovi, barring something really bizarre happening.

The only question is.....when?

He's now 34 goals shy of tying the mark and 35 away from breaking it.

Based off of last year's pedestrian performance and 31 goal output, it seemed almost a certainty he would need all of this season and a month of the '25-26 campaign to surpass Gretzky.

Now?

There's at least a chance he can reach 895 this season, albeit in late March or early April.

Some folks in the hockey world are starting to put their tickets for those games on the secondary market and prices are booming. Six of the team's last 9 games in '24-25 are on the road, too, so even the schedule makers assumed Ovi wouldn't hit the mark this season.

Washington's final home game of the year is on Sunday, April 13 vs. Columbus. You'll have to make a choice that day, perhaps. Stay home and watch Tiger Woods tie Jack's mark with his 6th career Masters win or head to D.C. to see Ovi score career goal #895 and break hockey's most illustrious individual record.

It's a good choice to have.

Sunday November 3, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3724

broncos looking to nix the ravens

This one, today, could be interesting.

After last week's fiasco in Cleveland, I'm starting to give up on trying to figure out these Ravens.

I mean, they lost to Jameis Winston, for crying out loud.

But what should be a 34-17 win for Baltimore could turn into one of those 23-20 nailbiters because the Ravens do what they always do, which is to say, they turn the ball over at the worst time, pull on the quarterback's facemask in 4th quarter, miss a 48 yard field goal and, well, you get the picture.

I can't believe I'm going back to this well again, but I am. "You can't play scared", I tell my Calvert Hall golfers all the time. And you can't be scared to say this, either: Some dude named Bo Nix isn't coming to Baltimore as a rookie quarterback and beating the Ravens, particularly a week after the Ravens lost to the Browns, of all teams.

Yeah, there it is: Bo Nix isn't beating the Ravens today. I don't care what you say. He's not.

That said, this hard-to-figure-out Ravens team can simply not afford to lose this one, especially with the Bengals coming to town next Thursday night with their season pretty much on the line.

There's also that pesky trip to Pittsburgh in two weeks time that would look a little different if the Ravens lose today and then beat the Bengals to head to the Steel City at 6-4.

Every game is important, obviously. But these "cakewalk" games at home, you know, where you're basically a touchdown favorite over a club that is definitely more of a paper tiger than a roaring lion, are super important.

The Ravens lost one of those games earlier this year when the Raiders somehow won in Baltimore. It's one thing to lose at home to a team like Buffalo or even the Eagles later on this season. It's another thing, entirely, to lose to Las Vegas or these Broncos today. You just can't drop those kind of games.

Alas, the Ravens aren't losing today.

I realize Sean Payton is a terrific coach and Denver, at 5-3, is already well ahead of what most people thought they'd do in 2024.

But let's be honest about this: They're 5-3 because they've pretty much defeated the dregs of the league along the way. I know, I know. "You play who they put in front of you." I get it.

But Denver's five wins are against: Tampa Bay, NY Jets, Las Vegas, New Orleans and Carolina.

When they've played a decent team this year, they've lost: Pittsburgh, LA Chargers, Seattle.

Their five wins have come against the league's JV.

They're going from winning six furlong races and thinking they're the next coming of American Pharoah to lining up against Secretariat today in a mile-and-a-quarter race.

The Broncos are not beating the Ravens today. Bo Nix isn't coming to Baltimore and getting the better of Lamar Jackson. You can make book on that.

It might be closer than we all think it should be because that's how "our" Ravens do it, but a win is a win is a win.

I'm going the other way, though. This one, today, will expose the Broncos for what they are. An improving team who can beat some of the low-lifes in the league but can't hang with the big dogs.

Lamar throws for 229 yards and runs for 68 more. He scores a touchdown on the ground and throws for two more, one to newcomer Diontae Johnson and the other to Mark Andrews.

Derrick Henry has 43 yards at the half, then piles up another 66 in the second half to finish with 106 yards of rushing on the day.

It's 20-7 Ravens at the half.

Denver makes it 23-17 heading into the fourth quarter.

Lamar engineers a nice drive to start the final 15 minutes and the Ravens go up 30-17.

A late Denver turnover in their own territory provides for a Justin Tucker field goal inside of two minutes and the Ravens win, 33-17, to improve to 6-3 on the year.

"On to Cincinnati" we go.

	WILL JACKSON and his weekly NFL picks
Will Jackson will be here every Sunday during the NFL season with his thoughts on games and prop bets that will hopefully yield positive results for you.

I'm hoping last week's improved record is a good sign of things to come. I'm at almost 62% on my prop bets but I'm at 43% on my game picks for the year. I want to turn that around for everyone today.

Game picks

Falcons -3.5 over the Cowboys

Bills -6.5 over the Dolphins

NY Giants +4 over Washington

Bronwns/Chargers over 42.5 points

Bills/Dolphins under 49.5 points

Carolina +7 over New Orleans

Seattle +2 over LA Rams

Indianapolis +5.5 over Minnesota

Prop bets

Josh Allen over 1.5 passing touchdowns

Justin Herbert over 1.5 passing touchdowns

Lamar Jackson over 1.5 passing touchdowns

Derrick Henry anytime touchdown

Marvin Harrison Jr. anytime touchdown

Jared Goff over 203.5 yards passing

Kyler Murray over 203.5 yards passing

David Njoku anytime touchdown

Amari Cooper anytime touchdown

SCOREBOARD
Saturday, December 7
AT CANADIENS 2	CAPITALS 4
CAPS GOALS: Wilson 2 (10, 11), Strome (9), Dubois (4) GOALTENDER: Thompson RECORD: 19-6-2 NEXT GAME: 12/12 at Columbus

#DMD Corporate Partners

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