Iggy's Raven's Report - 24 April 2008

Last Game & Commentary

Personal Thoughts:
Ravens news: Well, draft day is coming, and everyone out there has speculation of what the Raven's are going to do. I have seen two logical theories for our first overall pick. The first is to go with the best available player on the board, which could be someone to bolster our secondary, the other is to snatch another QB, like Michigan quarterback Chad Henne, and let Boller, Smith, and Henne duke it out for the starting reigns.

I think the latter is the best move. Boller is nothing more than a second string QB who has proven he can be an okay quarterback, but he is just not "the man." Troy Smith looked awesome at the end of last season, but is two games enough to make that call? I predict that the Ravens pick up another QB high in the draft, declare a free for all competition, and then start Troy Smith, declare Boller the backup, and "player to be named later" the third string.

Orioles news: The Orioles record is still normalizing. The Yankees didn't prove to have too much to fight with, as the Orioles pitchers controlled the first two games, and the offensive took advantage of their opportunities. That came to a screeching halt on Sunday, but that comes with a young team. Unfortunately that offensive slump continued into Seattle where the pitching continued to deliver, but we had very little runs to show for it. The quote of the day comes from some unnamed yankee a$$hole who shouted "Orioles $uck!" as we were leaving the ballpark on Friday night. My friend Ken quickly yelled back, "Dude, you guys lost." We never said yankee fans were smart.

Mariners news: Mariners (1-5) drop another one , this time to the division rival Erie Riverrats (4-2). This time the score was 55-40. Erie built a 17 point half time lead, anchored by a lost fumble in the end zone. The Home and Home series concludes this Friday night, as the Mariners play host to the Erie Riverrats (4-2), still tied for first within out division.

Blast news: The three seeded Blast will travel to Milwaukee (actually, they were just there for their home-and-home playoff series against the Wave) to play for another championship ring. They will be facing the the upstart fourth seeded Monterrey La Razza, who knocked off the top seeded Detroit Ignition, whom we have had problems with the last several years.

What do you want to see in the Ravens report? What should be scrapped? Actually, nevermind. No one is reading this anyway, so I will just butcher things up however I please, and you won't know the difference. Send an email to iggy at tealdragon.net. Thanks!

Schedule

National Spotlight

• Sun: What they're saying about the Ravens (23 April)

Iggy's Predictions

• NHL
  • Unfortunately, I was right about the Caps.
  • Montreal should clobber Philly, like they have all season. 5 games (even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then)
  • Rangers will upset the Penguins. Not because I hate everything that has to do with Pittsburgh, but because they have a slight series edge this season in head to head combat. 6 games
  • Detroit over Colorado. I hate the Red Wings, but they are good. 5 games
  • San Jose over Dallas. The sharks stumbled against Calgary, but they didn't fall, as I expected. They will rebound against Dallas. 6 Games
• NBA
  • Bullets flop in the first round to Cleveland. We always have problems with Cleveland. 6 games
  • Boston over Atlanta in 5 games. Celtics are hot this season.
  • Detroit over Philly in 6 games. Eastern Conference is week this season, Philly doesn't even deserve to be here.
  • Orlando over Toronto in 6 games. Toronto has a team? And we don't? eh?
  • Lakers over Denver. 5 games, only because I never call for a 4 game series win.
  • New Orleans over Dallas in 6 games. Two good teams, but give the end to the higher seed.
  • Phoenix over the Spurs in 6 games. Suns have better head to head numbers.
  • Utah over Houston in 6 games. So the New Orleans Jazz now play in Utah, but the Charlotte Hornets are in New Orleans, which makes way for the Bobcats in Carolina. Stop! I'm confusing myself.

Other Football News

• NFL: Tie Breaking Procedures

Other Local Sports News

• None