Iggy's Raven's Report - 29 May 2008

Commentary

Personal Thoughts:
Ravens: Musa Smith signs a deal with the Jets. The preseason pre-camps are showing rusty players.

Orioles: They lose 5 in a row, but then beat the Yankees two in a row. To their defense, the Rays are good this year, and are a serious threat in the division. The Orioles are suffering from crappy road performance and an inability to match good pitching with good hitting. More importantly, they aren't consistently cashing in on their opportunities. More consistent performances are required if they want to maintain some form of respectability.

Mariners: Mariners (2-8) fall to the Reading Express (8-2) by a score of 49-27. Next up, they play host to the WINLESS Florida Stingrays (0-10) of the Western Conference South Division. Here's our chance to put some distance between us and the last place Canton Legends.

Crystal Palace Baltimore F.C.: Crystal Palace Baltimore (5-0) continued their winning streak, but not the blanket defense as they eek out a 3-2 win over the Western Mass Pioneers (3-3-1), moving the Palace into first place, 2 points ahead of the Charlotte Eagles (4-1-1), to whom the Palace host on Saturday at UMBC. Wins are worth 3 points, so we need to win or tie to stay on top of our division.

Basketball and Hockey: David Stern (NBA Commish) thinks Baltimore could play host to a "developmental" league team with the opening of a new arena, but not an NBA team. The NHL says the same, citing our proximity to wershington, and the regional "clog" of teams in the northeast corridor. Ed Hale (Owner of the Blast) was also on record saying that it would be great to land another pro team, but he fails to see that the city could pony up the corporate sponsorship necessary to maintain and support another professional team. The article was in the hardcopy edition of the 28 May Baltimore Examiner, but I couldn't find it on-line. My thoughts are that I would really like to see us be a major league city in more than 2 sports, but Philly and Washington have us boxed in. As much as I hate to admit it, I think Ed Hale is correct. However, I don't want to see us resolve ourselves to defeat. Spec out the new arena to meet all the requirements of an NBA and NHL team so we aren't preventing the possibility of obtaining a team. If we pursue that path, an interesting side effect will occur: We open the door for alternative forms of entertainment (no, not that kind of entertainment). We can compete with our neighboring cities for shows and concerts, and bring more revenue to the city of Baltimore. Let's not be penny wise and pound foolish. Who knows, but it just might happen that if we do build it, they just might come!

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

Relevant Football Links

• NFL: Tie Breaking Procedures
• Sun: What they're saying about the Ravens (28 May)

Iggy's Predictions

• NHL
  • Wings over the Penguins in 6 Games. I hate both teams. I hate Pittsburgh more. Wings up 2-0
• NBA
  • Boston over Detroit in 6 games. The Celtics seem to like the drama, so don't be surprised if this one goes 7 games too. Series tied at 2
  • Lakers over Spurs in 6 games. I might have been wrong. The Spurs match up well against the Lakers. Maybe a suspenseful 7 games on this one? Nah, probably not. Lakers up 3-1