Iggy's Raven's Report - 9 October 2008

Commentary | Schedule | Relevant Football Links | Predictions

Commentary

Personal Thoughts:
Ravens: Another week, another heartbreaker. Get used to it, because I think we are headed for a lot more. Why does our defense play a great game... until the 4th quarter? Apparently, Stover is no more good beyond 40 yards, and the penalties were atrocious. I don't even want to comment on that "touch foul." Special teams, once again, were not so special as Tennessee posted 110 return yards to our pitiful 32. I hope the pittsburgh loss didn't completely destroy our season, but I am starting to have some concerns given the strength of our schedule and the back to back demoralizing losses.

Next up is the evil colts, who pulled a miraculous comeback against the Texans last week. We must break them, but we can't keep steamrolling our opponents for most of the game and then serve up a loss on a silver platter. Alas, my optimism is waning.

Orioles: Now that the season is over, it is obvious what was working for the most part (hitting), and what wasn't (pitching... again). The Orioles had someone in the top 10 of every major American League offensive category.
Average: Markakis (.306) was 10th in the league (and Huff, .304, was tied for 11th)
Home Runs: Huff (32) was in a 3-way tie for 8th.
Runs Batted In: Huff (108) and Mora (104) were 6th and 7th, respectively
Stolen Bases: Roberts (40) was 4th
Slugging PCT: Huff (.552) was 5th
On-Base PCT: Markakis (.406) and Roberts (.378) took was 3rd and 8th, respectively.
Runs: Roberts (107) and Markakis (106) were 3rd and 4th, respectively
Hits: Huff and Markakis (182 each) tied for 10th (with Roberts, 181, right behind them in 12th)
Walks: Markakis (99) and Roberts (82) were 2nd and 8th, respectively
Doubles: Roberts (51) was 2nd, while Huff (48) and Markakis (48) tied for 3rd
Triples: Roberts (8) and Jones (7) were tied for 4th, and tied for 6th, respectively
Total Bases: Huff (330) was 3rd (and Markakis, 292, tied for 11th)

Pitching, on the other hand, produced hardly a leader.
Wins: Guthrie (10) was tied for 34th
ERA: Guthrie (3.63) was 14th
Saves: Sherill (31) was 7th
Strikeouts: Guthrie (120) was 31st
Innings Pitched: Guthrie (190.2) was 21st
Walks/Hits per Innings Pitched: Guthrie (1.23) was tied for 11th
Opponents AVG: Guthrie (.242) was 7th

...while the bad stats had us in the top of the league:
Hit Batters: Cabrera (18) was 1st
Runs Allowed: Cabrera (109) was tied for 9th
Homeruns Allowed: Cabrera and Guthrie (24) tied for 11th
Walks: Cabrera (90) was 2nd
Balks: Cabrera (2) was tied for 2nd
Wild Pitches: Cabrera (15) was 1st
Steals Allowed: Cabrera (27) and Olson (20) were tied for 2nd and tied for 8th, respectively

Crystal Palace Baltimore F.C.: No new news.

Alouettes: The Als (9-5) fell short on a road game to the lowly Hamilton Ti-Cats (3-11), 44-36. After receiving honors for both QB Anthony Calvillo and WR Ben Cahoon as CFL offensive players of the month, the Als started slowly, dropping down 24-3 halfway through the 2nd quarter, and never fully recovered. Cahoon and Jamal Richardson both caught two touchdowns each in the losing effort. Also of note, with 10 receptions, Cahoon (833 receptions), passes the former Saskatchewan Roughrider Ray Elgaard (830 catches from 1983-1996) as CFL career receptions leader.

Next up is a 1PM Monday afternoon re-match against Hamilton (3-11, 4th in the East), this time at home. Montreal still holds on to a game lead over the Bombers in the standings.

Blast: The 2008-2009 season schedule has been posted.

Mariners: Baltimore Mariners Introduce Kids Club for 2009 Season. See their website for details.

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

2008 Preseason
Date	Opponent		Time	Result
Thursday, August 7	@New England Patriots		7:30 PM	W 16-15
Saturday, August 16	Minnesota Vikings		7:30 PM	L 23-15
Saturday, August 23	@Saint Louis Rams		8:00 PM	L 24-10
Thursday, August 28	Atlanta Falcons		7:30 PM	L 10-9
2008 Regular Season
Date	Opponent	Record	Time	Result
Sunday, September 7	Cincinnati Bengals	1-0	1:00 PM	W 17-10
Sunday, September 14	@Houston Texans	1-0	4:05 PM	PPD
Monday, September 15	@Houston Texans	1-0	8:30 PM	PPD
Sunday, September 21	Cleveland Browns	2-0	4:15 PM	W 28-10
Monday, September 29	@Pittsburgh Steelers	2-1	8:30 PM	L 23-20 (OT)
Sunday, October 5	Tennessee Titans	2-2	1:00 PM
Sunday, October 12	@Indianapolis Colts	2-6 Overall 0-3 Away	1:00 PM
Sunday, October 19	@Miami Dolphins	2-5 Overall 0-4 Away	1:00 PM
Sunday, October 26	Oakland Raiders	4-1 Overall 3-0 Home	1:00 PM
Sunday, November 2	@Cleveland Browns	12-7 Overall 5-4 Away	1:00 PM
Sunday, November 9	@Houston Texans	2-0 Overall 1-0 Away	1:00 PM
Sunday, November 16	@New York Giants	3-0 Overall 1-0 Away	1:00 PM*
Sunday, November 23	Philadelphia Eagles	0-1-1 Overall 0-0-1 Home	1:00 PM*
Sunday, November 30	@Cincinnati Bengals	14-11 Overall 5-7 Away	1:00 PM*
Sunday, December 7	Washington Redskins	2-1 Overall 0-0 Home	1:00 PM*
Sunday, December 14	Pittsburgh Steelers	10-16 Overall 6-7 Home	1:00 PM*
Saturday, December 20	@Dallas Cowboys	2-0 Overall 0-0 Away	8:15 PM
Sunday, December 28	Jacksonville Jaguars	6-9 Overall 4-4 Home	1:00 PM*

Relevant Football Links

NFL: Tie Breaking Procedures

Iggy's Predictions

Baseball
- World Series: Tampa Bay Rays over the Cubs in 6 games. You heard it here first. [Posted 7 August] Half wrong already
- ALDS: Rays over the central division sacrificial lamb in 4 games Bullseye!
- ALDS: Angels over the Red Sox in 3 games Red Sox live to fight another day
- NLDS: Cubs over the Dodgers in 3 games I had the game count right... but the Cubs! I should have known better
- NLDS: Brewers over the Phils in 5 games I thought the Brew crew was better, but I preferred the Phils.
- ALCS: Rays over Sox in 6. They are the team of destiny this season and they never give up.
- NLCS: Phils over Dodgers in 7. This one will go to the bitter end.
Week 5:
- Ravens (+3½) over the Titans. Home field advantage... I hope! Well, at least we covered.
- Carolina (-9½) over KC. KC's win last week was a fluke against a division enemy. Now they are on the road. KC who?
- Indy (-3½) over Houston, but take the points. 3½ are not a lot of points to take, but this division rivalry should be close. Lost by half a point!
- SD (-6½) over Miami. Miami still stinks... until we play them, but I call that the twilight zone. What's up with SD this year?
- Bears (-3½) over Detroit. In Detroit could make this tough, but I have confidence the Bears will return again this week. Lions failed to show
- Packers (-7½) over Atlanta, but take the points. Atlanta will continue to surprise people, but the Packers have too many weapons still. Atlanta does extra on the Road to win this one straight up
- Giants (-7½) over Seattle. The hawks are still missing a lot of pieces within their offense. ...and defense too!
- Eagles (-5½) over the skins. Skins/Dallas is one thing, but they won't be as up for the game in Philly. Where did Philly go? They went up 14-0, and then disappeared.
- Tampa (+3½) over Denver. Denver may be angry after the KC game last week, but Tampa could be the NFC Super Bowl rep this year. Half right again, thanks to the FG spread
- Buffalo (+½) over Arizona. People still aren't giving the Bills much credit. May be those other people know more than me... actually, pretty likely
- Dallas (-17½) over Cincy, but take the points. Come on -- 17½ points. Who won't take those points! 'Nuff said
- SF (+3½) over the Patriots. This one is in SF, and that should produce better results that that last game in New Orleans. They were winning... and then the wheels fell off the mining car
- Jax (-4½) over the Steelers. The Steelers are still looking for a running back with all the injuries. That outcome was just wrong.
- Saints (-3½) over the Vikings. I think that was a low line for this game. Saints will win big. Where did Minnesota come from... and where did the Saint go?
- This Week: 5-9 Straight Up; 7-7 Against the Spread
- This Season: 43-31 Straight Up; 45-29 Against the Spread
Week 6:
- Colts (-4½) over the Ravens, but take the points. Our D is good enough to keep us close, but our O still isn't good enough to pull it out.
- Houston (-3½) over Miami. Texans get their first win, which should have been last week.
- Jets (-6½) over Cincy, but take the points. Cincy isn't that bad... they just aren't that good either.
- Saints (-7½) over Oakland, but take the points. Oakland has gotten my attention, and could actually win this game.
- Chicago (-2½) over Atlanta. Atlanta is doing well and will be home, but the Bears have D.
- Minnesota (-13½) over Detroit. Not even that spread can help the Lions... although division games tend to be close.
- Tampa (-2½) over Carolina. Tampa's D will rule.
- Washington (-13½) over the Lambs. Skins might actually have a decent team this year. The Rams do not.
- Jax (+3½) over Denver. Denver is not that good, and Jax should be on the war path after dropping that game to the steelers.
- Green Bay (+2½) over Seattle. Green Bay will wins this one handily.
- Arizona (+%½) over Dallas. Upset of the week. If Dallas wins, I will be upset.
- Philly (-4½) over the Niners. I want the Niners to win, but I am biased since they were my favorite team after the BALTIMORE Colts went out of existence. Logic says SF can't handle Philly.
- SD (-6½) over Pats. NE is just not the same without Brady. San Diego has been struggling but will find that extra something at home in the prime light.
- Giants (-7½) over Cleveland, but take the points. Cleveland will keep in close on Monday night, to add to the list of exciting Monday night games this season.

Please send comments to Iggy at tealdragon.net