Just when I thought my weekend couldn’t get any better, the Ravens proved me wrong. After an amazing Pearl Jam show on Saturday, I shunned the idea of sleeping in and woke up early to make the relatively short drive from Philly to Baltimore for the Ravens game versus the Broncos.

After the tough loss in Minnesota two weeks prior, this game against the undefeated Broncos (6-0) was a game the Ravens needed desperately to stop their 3-game skid, and they took to the field with a serious desire to win. If anyone thought the Ravens were the underdogs, the Ravens weren’t buying what they were selling. On the first play of the game, Jarrett Johnson leveled Kyle Orton to set a tone, and there was no looking back.

With the rowdy crowd backing the team, the Ravens dominated the Broncos all over the field. While the Ravens couldn’t find the endzone in the first half, you could tell it was only a matter of time before the Ravens would take control of not only the play on the field, but the scoreboard as well. In fact, the only scoring drive the Broncos could muster was aided by stupid penalties committed by the Ravens…including a 45-yard pass interference call, a 5-yard offsides penalty after the Ravens stopped the Broncos on a 4th-and-1 AND another pass interference call that gave the Broncos a first-and-goal from the one. It was ridiculous, but exactly the type of stuff that kills the Ravens week-after-week. I guess we could also point to the stupid personal foul penalty on Michael Oher that erased a long Ray Rice run in the first half that would’ve give the Ravens a first down at the 8-yard line. The Ravens would truly be scary if they could be a little more disciplined.

Fortunately, Steve Hauschka rebounded from his missed game-winner in the Metrodome to hit all 3 of his field goal attempts, 2 of which helped buy the Ravens time and a 6-point lead going into the second half, where, much to my enjoyment, Ravens rookie Lardarius Webb returned the opening kickoff to the house to extend the lead to 13. Once the Ravens started clicking, it was all over. Flacco tied a club record with an 80% completion percentage, including 14 straight completed passes. They took control all over the field and it was a great game to watch…especially from our awesome seats in section 118! I just hope this confidence spills over into next week’s game.

Go Ravens!!!

What a game…what an experience.

I’ve been a Milan fan since I was in high school, but that was back when the only coverage you could get was the rare game on satellite or the coverage in Soccer America magazine. The thought of seeing them in-person would’ve seemed so surreal in the early nineties. It still blows my mind to think that on Friday, we got to watch two of the best clubs in the world play each other…in my hometown!

I was fortunate enough to see Milan play Chelsea a few years ago when the first attempt at the World Football Challenge came through and went bankrupt. The game took place in Philly and was just as exciting as the game on Friday, but the main difference between both experiences was the crowd. Friday’s crowd was a complete sellout of over 71,000 fans…a far cry from the 30-some thousand people that attended the game a few years back. Blame it on the heightened exposure, or the influx of soccer-knowledgeable immigrants, but selling out a NFL stadium is simply an awesome accomplishment for the game in The States.

Usually when I’m in M&T Bank Stadium, I’m surrounded by insane, belligerent NFL fans, so the vibe was so cool Friday. Even though most of the fans there were pulling for one team or the other, the majority of the fans could only cheer the excellent exhibition put on by the two clubs. It wasn’t violent, and people cheered every good touch.

Ronaldinho and Milan put on a hell of a show, only to be outdone by the Blues in a 2-1 loss that exposed some of Milan’s big weaknesses – namely, their lack of a true world-class striker and poor options at goalkeeper. I felt that Milan spent way too much time trying to force the ball over the top of Chelsea’s strong defense, and their lack of fitness and practice was clearly evident, with mistimed runs and poor communication underlining their performance.

Chelsea, on the other hand, looked really strong. Not much to criticize there. Looks like Ancelloti took over for a very good side…I wish him the best of luck.

One of my favorite moments was when Oguchi Onyewu stepped on the field for Milan in the 66th minute. He’s always been a favorite of mine on the US National Team despite his sometimes suspect defending, so to see him playing for Milan is simply awesome. He received an huge bi-partisan ovation all game whenever he did something good. I hope that helps give him the confidence needed to propel him into the starting lineup. He played pretty well, too, considering the fact that he’s only had a couple of practices with the team. Luckily, Leonardo knows 5 languages – English being one of them – so Gooch can communicate with his new coach. I’m excited to see how it pans out.

Forza Milan!!!

We took a little trip down to Baltimore this week, with our original goal being the procurement of an Adam Jones bobblehead from the O’s/Mets game. Naturally, Eddie Vedder decided it would be a good week to schedule some solo shows at the Lyric Opera House, too. Add in some bowling, a trip to the National Aquarium, and a drive up to York to visit Kree, and you’ve got one of those fun vacations that leave you completely drained.

Eddie Vedder kills the Lyric

While Mundis and I failed to land tickets to both Sunday and Monday’s shows, we did get to go to the second night…and it was awesome. Mundis initially thought that Monday’s show was better than both of the Chicago shows, and he very well could be right. The crowd was much better than the Chicago crowds, which could be a big part of our reasoning. While there were still the constant requests for songs, it was nowhere near as obnoxious as the drunken morons that ruined the crowds at the Auditorium shows in Chicago. Even the large guy who smelled like cheese sitting next to me couldn’t ruin such a good show.

As usual, Vedder was on. The Lyric, as a venue, simply made his voice sound that much better, too. He refrained from playing a lot of the songs that I hate hearing, and played a few that we didn’t hear when we were in Chicago last year. It was essentially the same exact concept as in Chicago, but with a varied playlist – same opening act, same backdrops, same stage set, etc., so there really isn’t much to add to our experience. Liam Finn was entertaining, and we even got to briefly meet him after his set. Nice guy…too bad Vedder going on cut our time together short.

If you haven’t seen Vedder solo, get a ticket…that is, if he ever tours solo again. I’m willing to say that I’ve enjoyed his solo shows more than nearly every Pearl Jam show that I’ve seen. Maybe it’s the jaded Pearl Jam fan in me…maybe it’s the intimate setting…who knows. He’s just so much clearer, and much more musically powerful, when he’s not fighting the noise around him. His personality opens up a bit more, and he’s a lot more entertaining than you would think if you had only seen him front Pearl Jam. It’s really all about the emotion shining through, though. Despite all of the drinking and smoking, he can still use his voice to carry a room like very few people.

National Aquarium

Fortunately, we had a day to waste in Baltimore between the Vedder show and the O’s game, so I used the random Tuesday to finally get back to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. I hadn’t been there since I was in high school, and I could never work out a way to get back…until now.

It was more or less exactly the way I remembered it, though, so it was fun…juuuuuuust not nearly as much fun as it was when I was a kid. I was also a little bummed that some of the sharks weren’t in the tanks…no hammerheads or threshers – the sharks were always my favorite. Fortunately the jellyfish exhibit, which happened to be the last thing we saw, was awesome! I can say that jellyfish officially freak me the hell out, but they’re wild to see in a closed environment. The price of admission seems a bit high, but it was still worth it, even if just for the nostalgia.

A night at Camden Yards

The original purpose of the trip was to take a trip to Camden Yards to see the Orioles, and more importantly, pick up the Adam Jones bobblehead (which is frickin’ awesome, btw). It was awesome to be at an Orioles game again. Fortunately, we had seats covered by the upper deck, so watching the O’s beat the Mets in the rain with Mundis, my Dad, and Megan went smoothly. We also got to see Matt Wieters’ first career home run! I’m 2-0 when attending O’s games the last two years…maybe I should go more often.

On Thursday, Megan and I took to the road to meet Mundis for the final outdoor show of the season at Pier Six – Cake with the Winterpills! We arrived at the venue around 7, but unfortunately had to wait until 8:30 for the opening band to take the stage. With the cold weather kicking in, signaling a hint of Fall in the air, most of the vendors weren’t open along the lawn side of the venue, so food and beer options were pretty limiting, and the crowd seemed much more sparse than the last time I was at Pier Six to see Cake in the warmer months.

Mundis’ friends were actually at the show to see the Winterpills, so we traded tickets for the opening band’s set, and chilled off to the side eating awful food. The Winterpills were decent. I’d like to take a listen to their stuff on CD because their sound was pretty laid back and ended up provided us with more of a background ambience for our conversations than highly engaging tunes that I could focus on. They had a  sort of mellow Death Cab for Cutie sound, but never really picked it up too much. I’ll wait to judge them until I get better acquainted with their stuff, but their live sound was sharp and they sounded good. They also get points for having tour posters, although, I didn’t pick either one up.

By the time Cake came on, the crowd had filled in and we were enjoying our seats in the 9th row, center. The show wasn’t the best Cake show I’d ever seen, but they were excellent as usual. The beginning of the show had some sound and lighting problems that obviously angered John McCrea, but once everything was fixed, the show went really well. Cake’s just such a good band. The songs are well-written, interestingly composed, and executed with near perfection. While the whole band is excellent, their guitarist and bass player just blow me away. The bass in a live setting makes you realize just how much it drives Cake’s music. The setlist highlights for me were definitely “War Pigs”, “Stickshifts & Safetybelts”, “Arco Arena”, “Mexico”, and “The Distance”, but in reality the entire show was solid. I even think we got to hear one new song, but that’s based solely on the idea that neither myself or anyone around seemed like they had heard it before. Regardless, it was pretty good.

Naturally, our seats put us right next to “that guy”. You know, the ultra-loud, obnoxiously drunk guy that keeps screaming the band’s name before the band takes the stage. The guy who spills beer on his girlfriend. The guy who doesn’t use deodorant, but wears a wife-beater shirt. Yeah…that guy. He sat right in front of Mundis. Interestingly enough, the last time we saw Cake, there was an issue with someone sitting near us having some fierce body odor. Anyway, aside from “that guy”, the crowd was alright. Cake brings an interesting mix of fans, which are more laid back for the most part, but still fun.

Anyway, this was my 4th Cake show, so I’d obviously recommend seeing them to anyone. My only recommendation would be to study up on your tree knowledge – that is, if you want a tree to plant. At one point, the band gave away a small Granny Smith apple tree to the first fan who could guess what kind of tree it was. Without the apples, it obviously made people’s guesses pretty poor, but eventually someone got it…and it wasn’t me. The girl who figured it out got to go up on stage and take the tree home if she promised to plant it and nurture it. It seems like this is their new thing at every show. Gotta love Cake – helping the environment by improving the air quality with both new trees and great sounds. It was definitely worth the trip.

It’s going to be a long season, but an extremely exciting one, if you’re a Ravens fan. I went down to Westminster on Monday to experience my first training camp, and I must say, it was a lot of fun.

I arrived around 8, and hunkered down for the day in my seat on the covered bleachers. I have to admit that I was really excited to see the team practice, especially the rookies. The whole “who’s going to be the Ravens quarterback” saga was something I was looking forward to with childlike excitement.

Troy Smith was the first person that I saw come out in the morning, followed by Flacco, followed by about 3 tons of offensive linemen. The defense came out wearing white game jerseys, while the offense was wearing the home purple game jerseys, and the drills seemed to begin very quickly. The whole practice only lasted for a little more than 2 hours, but it was a reasonable amount of time to get a decent glimpse at the new Ravens under first-year head coach John Harbaugh.

As far as the rookies go, I was incredibly impressed with Ray Rice, the 2nd-round running back out of Rutgers. I was really liked his speed, lateral movement, and ability to find openings. In all honesty, he looked about 50 times better than the Ravens incumbent starter, Willis McGahee.

I was also fairly impressed with rookie WR Justin Harper. He seems very fast, and looks like he’s got decent hands despite being stripped after one of his catches. Who knows if he makes the team…

There’s also been a lot of hype surrounding rookie safety Haruki Nakamura, but I think I missed a lot of his big plays when a large group of people who were too important to kneel down blocked the view of just about everyone on the bleachers. These tools must’ve been agents because they had a nice sheen of arrogance about them, yet they didn’t look like coaches or players. This caused me to move down to the endzone that the offense was driving towards. From there, I was able to get a better view of everything, plus from that perspective you can really see the quarterbacks and routes better.

Flacco didn’t look so good, but…and I hate this, all of his good plays had an air of Roethlisberger about them. That’s right, broken plays where he scrambled outside, buying time for his receivers, or simply running. I think he took one ball to the house on a 40-yard scramble up the far sideline. He’s not a bad passer, he’s just not showing me anything better than the other quarterbacks in camp.

As for the other QBs, I’m putting my money on Troy Smith being the starter to begin the year…and I’m excited about that. While he did throw a pick, which Corey Ivy high-stepped, hand behind the head Deion-style, for a would-be touchdown, Smith honestly looked the most assured out there. Where Boller plays it really safe and still messes up, Smith seems to actually move the ball. His mobility and willingness to make plays with his feet negates the talk of his height, and his ability to feel pressure better than Boller will be crucial with the patchwork offensive line the Ravens will be using. I also love how Troy interacts with his teammates between plays. He’s really a leader and seems to have the team behind him. Of course, I don’t see any Peyton Mannings on the field, but time will tell.

The defense…well, they’re banged up a bit, but you can tell which side of the ball is ready to go. Even without Ed Reed and Haloti Ngata, the defense was all over the run game, and they easily made the offense look stuck in Billick ball mode – short, safe passes underneath, and runs with little potential for a big play. I’m not sure they’re going to pose a huge threat to New England or Indy’s offenses, but they should be fine. Ray Lewis is definitely looking solid already…and that’s without Ngata in front of him.

Finally, the team under Harbaugh. This is my first training camp attendance, so I have no idea what it was like under Billick, but man, Harbaugh is working this team harder than I’ve seem some of the guys play in real games, and I like it. Yeah, there’s a lot of guys who are picking up little injuries, but that’s to be expected. Acute injuries are impossible to avoid, and they happen constantly in the game, but injuries caused by lack of conditioning and training are inexcusable at the NFL level. It seems like Harbaugh is going to weed out those who aren’t taking their conditioning seriously, and at a minimum, develop a team that’s ready to play 60 minutes every game – starting week one. Gone should be the days of a slow-starting Ravens team playing up to game speed in the first half of the season. They may not win a lot of games, but they’ll be ready to play.

My predictions at this super-early stage:
1) Ravens go 9-7
2) Troy Smith starts…all year, barring injury
3) Defense finishes top 5
4) Ray Rice scores more rushing TDs than McGahee
5) Heap plays 16 games
6) Clayton leads in TD receptions
7) Mason gets the most receptions

Late Saturday night, I decided that it would be fun to go to Ravens training camp on Monday, but why drive all the way down to Maryland for one day? With the O’s hosting the best team in baseball, it seemed like a good idea to visit Camden Yards for the first time in 3 or 4 years and enjoy a Sunday ballgame.

For $27, I got a seat in the first row in left field, which was a nice spot for me to utilize the 55-300 lens that Meadows let me borrow. It was a lot of fun being in Camden Yards again and taking in one of the best stadiums in the league. While Camden Yards isn’t the newest park anymore, the updates to the video boards are awesome, providing some of the best information layout that you’ll find in any stadium. Plus, there weren’t any a-hole ushers bothering me about my seat. I was even allowed to walk around behind home plate to take some pictures with the only thing said to me by the usher being, “be sure to not block the walkway for too long”. Wow! A far cry from PNC Park’s staff.

The O’s played really well, and while they’re still no where near touching a division pennant, they did break their 15-consecutive-Sundays losing streak. Pictures to come…

On Sunday I went down to Ram’s Head Live in Baltimore to see Mike Ness and to pick up my new wheels for the .:R. We got to the inner harbor around 5 or so, and since it was raining hard, just rolled straight over to Ram’s Head.

The show was good, but there were definitely some hiccups. First, the opening band didn’t show up. Some girl who called herself “Sugar Tits” took the stage and told the crowd that the opening act was laying in a ditch somewhere wasted, and that she was going to play instead. She played mostly – or possibly nothing but – covers, but she wasn’t bad. She started with “Ring of Fire”, and I remember hearing “Crazy Train” at some point as well. Frankly I didn’t care that much because the Pens game happened to be on one of the bar televisions, so I was able to watch that while enjoying the show, which was hiccup number two.

As much as I love live music performances, I love sports, too. Playoff hockey is about as intense as sports can get, and to miss the game was something that I had struggled with the whole ride down. I forgot to DV-R the game which only increased my need to watch it. Fortunately, Ram’s Head is set up in such a way that you can sit at the bar, watch the game, and also have a really good view of the stage. Mike Ness didn’t want anything on the televisions, but a decent tip, and the requests of numerous patrons to put the game on earned us one television devoted to the game. Fans:1, Ness:0!

The crowd was good, but smaller than expected. In Pittsburgh, the same show would’ve sold out twice over, but Ram’s Head only sold about half of the allotted tickets, so it felt like watching any old band on any old night at the local popular bar…only the band was really tight. Mike Ness took forever to come out and only played for about an hour-and-a-half (I think he came out around 9:15, and played until 10:45). The short time on stage is hiccup number 3 for me.

I was pretty excited to hear the majority of the songs that I like off of his solo albums, and the band sounded great. I actually thought that Mike’s voice sounded much better than when I saw Social Distortion last year, too, but the show was just way too short (same complaint I have with Social D shows, as well). His band is solid, and the fans were really cool. We actually met 4 people from Pittsburgh, 2 of which drove down specifically for the show, and 2 which now live in the area (all Pens fans, of course!), so it was fun to catch the show and the game with them.

Would I see Ness again? Absolutely. He puts on a good show, has a great performance, and I like the laid back tunes and atmosphere of his solo shows more than the Social D show I saw, but I don’t know if it was worth driving 4 hours to Baltimore in the rain, sitting in Ram’s head for over 3 hours waiting for him to come on, and with a half-assed opening act paving the way for the rest of the evening.

It’s a good show. Seriously, don’t get me wrong, but without the Pens game, the good fortune of landing new wheels in Alexandria during the trip, and a decent screen printed poster, I might’ve not been as satisfied with the show. It’s just hard to justify such a long trip for an hour-and-a-half, no matter how good the show, you know?

On the other hand, the trip did give me an opportunity to stop by my dad’s house and visit him for a while, and I stopped in Johnstown to meet up with Hoover for some beers and grub at Big Dogz Grill on the way back. I’m not a big fan of all of that traveling, but I was able to make the brief trip worth it.

I endured yet another 4 hour drive down to Baltimore yesterday for the final regular season game of the year. Two things were surprising to me. First, there were a lot less Steelers fans than I had expected, and second, the Raven actually pulled out the victory – the first victory for Troy Smith, at that! It was a good game, and I’m glad I went. It was the 8th game I’ve been to this season, but at least they finished it off with a win. I definitely think I was the only person driving back to Pittsburgh with a smile on his face.

One annoyance of note is the Steelers fans talking about how their team didn’t care and how they didn’t have Ben, Hines, and Troy in. Um. Is it even necessary for me to mention how laughable those claims are? Is the tunnel vision so intense that Steelers fans can’t look across the field and see Ray Lewis, Todd Heap, Samari Rolle, Chris McAlister, Willis McGahee, Trevor Pryce, Quinn Sypniewski, Daniel Wilcox, Kyle Boller, Steve McNair, and Demetrius Williams standing in their track suits? Sorry, if Ravens fans can’t throw the injury card at you for our lousy season, I’m not sure why you can toss out your claims after this loss.

Let’s also enjoy, at least for a moment, how the Ravens, with NO tight ends, and Troy Smith under center beat the Steelers starting defense (minus Troy). Even if the Steelers offense could’ve, would’ve, should’ve scored more with Ben in there, their overrated defense couldn’t stop a rookie and the oft-under performing Devard Darling. I just hope the Jags run all over the Steelers…again.

Here’s a picture of Kree, Dad, and myself after the game:

Yet another trip to Charm City. Yet another Ravens game. Yet another loss. I’d be getting sick of the whole thing, but I do enjoy going to the games, for better or worse.

The weather was awful. It was rainy and cold for the most part. Maybe it was the weather, maybe it was the product that the Ravens have been putting on the field, but the stadium was definitely short a few thousand people at the start of the game. By halftime, so many people had left that I just walked down to the endzone seats and hung out – moving to the endzones that the Ravens would be driving to in the 3rd and 4th quarters.

As could be considered the norm for this season, the Ravens were dreadful. Their performance against the Pats less than a week before was quickly forgotten in the midst of the ass whooping handed down by the Colts. I mean, what can you really expect when you go up against arguably the best QB in the NFL without your two starting corners?

It was just another night of turnovers in the Ravens end of the field, followed by quick strike TD passes. The game was out of hand in the first quarter. It’s not really even worth discussing, really. The Ravens primetime curse continues.

My highlights were definitely Figurs kickoff return TD and Troy Smith’s debut. Last year’s Heisman Trophy winner even scored a TD on his first ever series…albeit against the Colts scrub team. I’m trying not to mistake his initial success for anything more than what it is, but with this season in the bag, it’s hard to avoid high hopes when you see any success.

Oh well. I can only hope to score tickets to the final home game of the year against the Steelers. The prices should continue to drop with the Ravens fans selling their seats, but we all know that the Steelers fans will inflate the prices and ruin the vibe at M&T Bank Stadium…or what’s left of it for this year.

3 games left. Then I can get back to focusing on the soccer season and following two more underachieving teams, Milan, and Newcastle. Maybe I’ll even fit some more Pens games in to round out my underachieving sports life. Ha ha.

At least baseball season will start soon after that. Then I’ll be able to cheer the Pirates and O’s to division titles. Never mind.

This is getting pretty ridiculous. On Monday, the Ravens could chalk their mistakes up to the weather and a hard hitting Steelers defense. Yesterday, though? There are no excuses. Absolutely none. The 6 turnovers resulted in 15 of the Bengals 21 points. The defense played as excellent as possible against such a dominant offense. Without their number 1, 2, AND 3 cornerbacks, the Ravens D held Cincy to 7 field goals. That doesn’t sound amazing, but if you saw where the Cincy drives began, you’d at least give them a lot of credit for that meager accomplishment.

There’s really not much else to say. I loved the crowd in our section (537). They were passionate fans and a lot of them actually stuck around till the end. I can’t imagine McNair ever playing football again. It’s so hard to believe that this was the same guy that led this Ravens team to a 13-3 record last season. He’s looking to become the next Elvis Grbac – the next QB booed out of his career. I felt horrible for the guy yesterday, but he was awful. His one fumble came from simply not protecting the football while he was running. Isn’t that QB101 stuff? If I wanted to watch my QB fumble on the run, I would’ve just started Boller all year. McNair’s other fumble was just hilarious. The ball simply fell out of his hand as he raised his arm to throw. Toss in there a McGahee fumble, and a botched handling of a kickoff return, and you pretty much have a summary of the year thus far for the Ravens.

With this loss, I’m expecting some changes in the organization, but who knows. I’m curious how Steve Bisciotti will handle all of this. He’s never really been a fan of Billick’s, so I’m guessing there’s a nice buyout clause in the head coach’s 4-year contract extension. Billick’s definitely won a lot of games, but this defense can’t be any better with an offense that throws them to the lions every time they walk out onto the field…which happens to be every other down. It looks like it’s time for a change.

On a side note, I’ve been fortunate enough to find out what’s been wrong with Samari Rolle. I won’t say what it is, but it’s very unfortunate that he may not ever be able to play again. I hope people out there who were joking about how he has AIDS, etc., just stop being idiots. His condition has nothing to do with anything preventable like that. It’s just an unfortunate situation that could happen to anyone. I wish him the best.