Iggy's Raven's Report - 22 July 2010

Commentary

News and Personal Thoughts:
Ravens: Raven's are ticking off fans by only allowing training camp autographs to be made for fans ages 6-15... Ravens ahead of other teams on signing their draft picks... Rumors of TO heading to the Ravens are just that -- Rumors. It won't happen... Flacco finally spoke about something, and everyone was listening. Joe is concerned that his happy trio of QBs will be disrupted with the arrival of Bulger, and the imminent departure of one of their lot.

Orioles: The O's (29-63 -- There goes the 100 win season) had pulled to within 1 of the 29th place in MLB with their 4 game sweep of the Texas Rangers (1st 4-game sweep since 1995) just before the all star break, but the Boo Jays have our number, and are now 9-0 against us this season. The 2010 O's are keeping pace with the 1988 O's for worst O's team in O's History, despite having matched a few unusual, but good, records in recent weeks. They included:

• First team since 1901 Detroit Tigers to win 4 straight games after trailing by at least 3 runs. Those were the first 4 games in Tigers franchise history by the way. The O's did this against Florida (6/24) and thrice against the nads (6/25-6/27)
• First team since 1971 Detroit Tigers to win back to back games after trailing by at least 5 runs. The 1971 Tigers did it against the yankees. The O's did this against the nads on 6/25 and 6/26.
• Jason Berken did not allow a run in 12 2/3 innings of Interleague play. That is the most in interleague play history for a reliever in a season.

Spider Watch: At 29 wins, we are still 7 games behind the modern MLB record of 36 win seasons by the 1916 (36-117) and 1919 (36-104) Philadelphia Athletics. The O's are at the same win total as the 1988 "worst ever" Orioles. Season projections bumped up to 52 wins with the 4 game surge against Texas.

Crystal Palace Baltimore F.C. (Home games at UMBC): Crystal Palace (5-8-4, 4th place NASL Conference) played to a 0-0 draw with the Rochester Rhinos (7-4-6, 2nd place USL) and defeated the Montreal Impact (5-7-5) 2-1 to move within 1 point of 3rd place. The Palace open a 3 game home stand on Saturday, when they host AC St. Louis (3-9-4, 6th place NASL).

Alouettes: The Als (2-1) have responded to their season opening loss with back to back road wins against Edmonton (0-3), 33-23, and BC (1-2), 16-12, concluding their 3 game season opening road trip against West opponents... a schedule worthy of the abuse the Ravens get each season. Damon Duval missed 2 field goals, but finished the night 4 of 6, plus 2 singles to account for 14 of the Als 16 points. A team safety provided the other 2 points. Both teams combined for over 550 passing yards, but only 1 TD was scored. This was the Al's first victory in BC since the 2000 season. Next up, the Als will play 5 of the next 6 games at home, starting with Hamilton (1-2) on Thursday Night. The Als are tied woth Toronto for 1st place in the East, which Hamilton and Winnipeg each 1 game back.

Blast: MISL adds Kansas City to the 2010-2011 list of teams. They will play at the Independence Events Center, in Independence, Missouri, and will be called the Comets... Manchester City versus Inter Milan on Saturday, July 31st at M&T Bank Stadium... Look for several Blast players participating in outdoor leagues this summer.

Mariners (See website for more details): The Baltimore Mariners (15-0) continued their perfect streak with a 63-15 drubbing of the 2nd place Harrisburg Stampede (12-4) to earn hosting honors of the AIFA Championship Bowl, to be played this Sunday, July 25 at 4PM. The West Representative will be the Wyoming Calvary (14-1), who defeated the San Jose Wolves 57-37 to earn their berth.

Bayhawks: After staring the season 4-1, the Hawks (4-5) have lost 4 straight, most recently, 16-10 at home against the Boston Canons (6-3), to fall 2 games behind Boston and Denver, and tied with Chicago and Long Island. Toronto is in last with only 3 wins. Team USA defeated the MLL all-stars by a 13-12 score. Next game for the Hawks is on Thursday in Long Island... hopefully not in the Long Island Sound... The Iroquois National team, ranked 4th of the 30 international teams, has been forced to withdraw from the Lacrosse World Lacrosse Championships being hosted in Manchester, England, due to a passport issue. The Lacrosse players of the Iroquois National use their own passport, issued by a council of 6 Native American Tribes, to which the United States and UK have stated are insufficient. The US has offered to expedite processing of US passports for the team, but the Iroquois have refused stating that it is an affront to their national heritage.

Capitals (See website for more details): Capitals announced their development Camp Schedule and roster... Caps sign Eric Fehr, Brian Willsie, Jay Beagle, Andrew Gordon, Andrew Joudrey, Patrick McNeill, and Zach Miskovic. See Website for details.

Wizards (See website for more details): Summer league play is in session... did anyone notice?