Casey Willett's Blog

Pre game notes

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:09:00 GMT

Here are some notes from Dave Trembley:

- The Orioles have not heard from Dr James Andrews in regards to Matt Albers as of this afternoon. They are expecting to hear from him later today.

- Kevin Millar is getting the night off so that Jay Payton can get into play. Trembley pointed out that Millar’s 1-24 .042 career average against Meche is not the deciding factor, but is considered when he is making decisions. Millar has only struck out once versus Meche, and his only hit was in his first at bat against Meche back on 8-25-2003. Millar singled to center and was thrown out going into second.

- Adam Loewen will not be available for the Orioles tonight. Trembley said that Loewen will pitch back to back nights, but not after his first outing out of the bullpen. The original plan was for Adam to stay in the minors till the All –Star break, but he was progressing fast and with Jamie Walker going on the disabled list, there was a need for him.

- Ramon Hernandez is batting cleanup for the Orioles tonight and the reason is because Trembley says he did not want four left handed hitters batting in a row: Roberts, Markakis, Huff, then Ramon, followed by Scott. In case you were wondering, Ramon is 8-26 lifestime versus Meche.

- I asked Dave Trembley if he sees any similarities between the Royals and Orioles and what they are doing, and he said yes and added the Pirates in that equation also. Dave said he knows Royals manager Trey Hillman very well and what the Royals are trying to do is similar to what the Orioles are doing here.

Pregame O's notes

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:02:20 GMT

Here are some notes from manager Dave Trembley’s meeting with the media:

- As the revolving door at short stop continues, the team is out looking for options outside of the organization for that position. Trembley said that Brandon Fahey and Freddie Bynum will play depending on who does what. I think the problem will be that there is not much out there on the free agent market or in trade.

- Matt Albers will go to visit with the famous surgeon Dr Andrews in Alabama tomorrow. Albers is going to get a second opinion on his torn labrum and whether surgery or rehab is the best option. I think having Albers go ahead and have the surgery would be the best for him and the team for the future.

- If the opportunity arises tonight, Trembley said he would go to George Sherill again in a save situation. Sherill is a very competitive guy and said it does not take him long to forget what happens. As for his glove that he tossed in the stands last night, he says he does not want it back and that it is not the first time he has done that.

- Jamie Walker did something last night that he has not done since 1999. Jamie sat in the dugout to watch a game as he is currently on the disabled list. Jamie told Dave Trembley it is a whole different game to see from the dugout compared to from the bullpen. There is some deal that Walker has with Chad Bradford and George Sherrill where if they come into the game, he goes out to the bullpen. My take is that Jamie could be a nice veteran asset to have for the young guys in the bullpen. He can talk to them about situations and different things. Trembley commented on how sharp and knowledgeable Jamie is and said that not much gets by him. Trembley pointed out that Walker could also help young guys like Liz, Olson, and other pitchers while they are sitting in the dugout.

Ray Lewis not smartest defender in NFL,O's pictures, birthday cake, and music

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:32:49 GMT

So a recent survey out from ESPN.com list Ray Lewis as the second smartest defensive player in the NFL as voted on by NFL head coaches. Here is the article, which is very interesting to read. Just for the record, no one from the offense

- I can not imagine Derrick Martin will be around long as a member of the Ravens. What he tried to pull is insane to think about. If you did wrong, just admit, do the punishment, and move on. Not saying it is right or is wrong, but I think there is a chance he will be made an example of.

- In the Orioles clubhouse, there are huge poster size pictures of Jim Palmer, Rick Dempsey, Elrod Hendricks, Eddie Murray, Brooks Robinson, and other Orioles greats on the wall outside of the clubhouse. Recently some of the new Orioles pictures have begun to show up. There are now the same size pictures of Brian Roberts, Adam Jones, Nick Markakis and a couple of other guy’s pictures lining the halls.

- Yesterday was Luke Scott’s birthday and he had a huge cake made like the back of his jersey in the clubhouse. Luke said a friend of his made the cake for him and that it weighed about 25 lbs. Every player that walked by and ate some of the cake talked about how good it was and wondering where it cam from.

- People have asked about the song that Brian Roberts comes to at bat with. It is from a band called Submersed, which is a band that Kevin Millar is friends with. The song is all called We All Make Mistakes.

10 questions with Ravens rookie wide receiver Marcus Smith

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:07:03 GMT

Here is a thing that I will be doing with the Ravens players throughout the season. We all know about them as the football players, but let’s find out about them off the field.

Here is the first installment of 10 questions, with Ravens rookie wide receiver Marcus Smith:

Favorite Movie of all time? 300

Favorite Actor?Will Smith

Dream Date? Jessica Alba

CD you can not stop listening to? Tha Carter III – Lil Wayne

Music people would be surprised to find on your Ipod? Kenny Chesney’s Greatest Hits

Favorite athlete growing up? Ray Lewis

7. If you could be any athlete for a day, who would it be? Ray Lewis

First concert ever attended? Lil Bow Wow and Chris Brown

Who would win a fight between, Batman, Superman, and Hulk? Superman

10. Fruit Loops, Fruity Pebbles, or Lucky Charms? Fruity Pebbles

O's, Motley Crue, Barry Sims, Lex Luger and ultimate matchup

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:25:57 GMT

Here are a couple of things before going in to work at the station:

- If you are an Orioles fan, here is a recommendation for you. Make sure that you tune into the Bob Haynie show to hear some news as it relates to the Orioles. That is all I am going to say about it. Not only will Tony Pente from Orioleshangout be joining Bob as well as Marc Carig from Washington Post to talk O’s, but there will be a surprise thrown in there also.

- Had a chance to listen to the new Motley Crue cd this morning. I am not sure what to make of it yet. While it is not Dr Feelgood type Motley Crue, it is better than Generation Swine . I am thinking about going to check out the Crue concert when they come to Nissian next month. They are a band that I have always wanted to see play live and not had the chance to. Have seen Vince Neil a couple of times with Ray Bachman and have some pretty funny stories from those concerts.

- Anyone know of a good tattoo parlor in Baltimore ?

- Barry Sims signing with the San Fransico 49ers is not a huge surprise to me. Although he would have competed for the tackle position for the Ravens, and put some pressure on a guy like Jared Gaither, I do not think the Ravens are in any worse shape without him. I still think that some veteran will be out there that the Ravens can bring into camp and look at.

- For old school wrestling fans, here is a very interesting story about Lex Luger. It is very interesting to read about his story and where he is now.

- Here is one of the funniest and odd baseball moments I have ever seen. Here is the video of when a switch hitter faces a switch pitcher. It is pretty entertaining to watch and how it all plays out.

All 21 of the O's comeback wins and who did it

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:52:23 GMT

So here are all 21 of the O’s come from behind wins so far this season and who drove in the go ahead run for the Orioles:

#1 4/2/08 O’s 9 -6 over Rays (Aubrey Huff 2run double)

#2 4/4/08 O’s 7-4 over Mariners (Kevin Millar solo homerun)

#3 4/5/08 O’s 6-4 over Mariners (Ramon Hernandez sac fly)

#4 4/6/08 O’s 3-2 over Mariners (Luis Hernandez single)

#5 4/7/08 O’s 5-4 over Mariners (Aubrey Huff solo homerun)

#6 4/17/08 O’s 6-5 over White Sox (Adam Jones rbi single single)

#7 4/23/08 O’s 3-2 over Mariners (Nick Markakis solo homerun)

#8 4/24/08 O’s 8-7 over Mariners (Brian Roberts’s solo homerun)

#9 5/9/08 O’s 7-4 over Royals (Aubrey Huff 3run homerun)

#10 5/13/08 O’s 5-4 over Red Sox (Luke Scott 3run homerun)

#11 5/14/08 O’s 6-3 over Red Sox (Jay Payton grand slam)

#12 5/16/08 O’s 5-3 over Nationals (Melvin Mora rbi double)

#13 5/27/08 O’s 10-9 over Yankees (Alex Cintron rbi single)

#14 6/02/08 O’s 6-3 over Red Sox (Adam Jones 3run double)

#15 6/05/08 O’s 3-2 over Twins (Adam Jones solo homerun)

#16 6/06/08 O’s 6-5 over Blue Jays (Adam Jones 2run homerun)

#17 6/10/08 O’s 10-6 over Red Sox (Kevin Millar sac fly)

#18 6/13/08 O’s 9-6 over Pirates (Melvin Mora rbi single)

#19 6/14/08 O’s 8-7 over Pirates (Ramon Hernandez rbi single)

#20 6/17/08 O’s 6-5 over Astros (Melvin Mora 2run double)

#21 6/18/08 O’s 2-1 over Astros (Kevin Millar rbi single)

Twenty one come from behind wins and eleven different guys have come through with the game winning hit. Here is who has done it and how many times:

Ramon Hernandez – 2 times

Luis Hernandez – 1 time

Aubrey Huff – 3 times

Adam Jones – 4 times

Nick Markakis – 1 time

Brian Roberts – 1 time

Luke Scott – 1 time

Jay Payton – 1 time

Melvin Mora – 3 times

Alex Cintron – 1 time

Kevin Millar – 3 times

Jonathan Ogden memories

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 02:08:17 GMT

So the end has officially come for Jonathan Ogden. WNST was reporting it early this morning and it has been confirmed by everyone including the Ravens that Ogden will officially end his career tomorrow at 11:30.

When I was leaving the Ravens complex this evening, Ogden had just arrived and was headed upstairs to speak with Ozzie Newsome. It appears that Edwin Mulitalo is flying into Baltimore to be here for Ogden tomorrow and there are possibly other former players that will be in attendance.

I only had the pleasure of covering J.O. for the last couple of years. He was one of the more interesting guys in that locker room. He was the guy who was not the biggest fan of having to deal with the media, but would give you what you were looking for and the sooner he could say it and be done with it the better.

You would be hard to find anyone in the building at 1 Winning Drive or anyone who ever played with Ogden to say a bad word about him. Everyone speaks very highly of him and have the utmost respect for him not only for what he did for the Ravens, but how he will go down in the history books as one of the greatest to ever play the position.

I wrote earlier that one of the final images I will remember of Ogden is of him on the sidelines holding his son in his arms and watching the final moments of his career tick off the clock.

Let’s be honest, Ogden had a lot of great moments on the field, but a lot of people will remember his Gebco commercials.

There are a lot of battles that he had with guys like Michael Strahan, Shawne Merriman, and many, many others. The way he used to laugh at guys like Joey Porter when all they did was talk trash the whole game. Ogden would just smile and laugh at him.

I consider myself fortunate to have seem him interact with his teammates and watch him walk to his locker and grab a book or two and want to go somewhere where he could go and read his books and be alone.

Listening to how guys like Mike Flynn and Orlando Brown talk about how tight Ogden was with his money and how he would take them out to eat and then tell them he need money from each one of them to help pay for the bill was classic.

All the times he would come out and do a show every season with Nestor on a Monday night and the times getting to sit and just talk with him about a Cover 2 defense or how he liked Lionel Richie’s music were fun.

It was a lot of fun getting a chance to sit and talk with him this past Super Bowl in Arizona as well. The videos are in wnsTV's vault under Super Bowl.

Although the NFL is not that big on retiring player’s numbers any more, I don’t think we will ever see anyone else wear the number 75 in Baltimore. I am sure that at some point this year he will be inducted into the Ravens Ring of Honor. It was a joy to cover Ogden the last couple of years and will look forward to seeing him head to Canton in five years.

I'm innterested to hear what your favorite memories of Jonathan Ogden memories are...

Post them and I'll get them up here...

The Final Hours of Jon Ogden as a Raven ?

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 11:13:34 GMT

Today could be the day that we get a definitive answer on the future of Jonathan Ogden.

Today is the weekly day for the media to attend the next to last team practice, albeit voluntary, of the Ravens offseason until training camp. Ogden is supposed to be in town for a golf tournament that he is having this week.

It would make sense for the Ravens to have a quick press conference for Ogden to say that he is finished. The media will be at 1 Winning Drive today for practice and interviews with the players afterward, so it would make it easy to do something quick today. Ogden has said all along that he does not want some big parade or great farewell thing to happen when he does make his decision.

Here is how I have come to the conclusion that this could be the end:

- Ogden has seen Mike Flynn and Edwin Mulitalo, who are two of his very close friends released by the Ravens the last two years. Ed, Mike and Jonathan were extremely close and it was thought that Flynn could have talked Ogden into coming back. But Flynn is gone as well.

- The retirement of Steve McNair. Steve was a guy that also could have talked Ogden into coming back this year. I would not be surprised if Ogden and McNair have had some phone conversations this offseason as far as their future here in Baltimore. McNair, I am sure, would have liked to have a guy like Ogden on the offensive line with him if he was going to play in 2008.

- His toe will never be ready for the grind of an NFL season. If Ogden did decide to come back this year, I think it would be more of what we saw last year. He would be a question mark every single week, and constantly be with the training staff, something that he was clearly frustrated with last season.

- There has been an obvious change in the way of doing things after the firing of Brian Billick, and most of his staff. Ogden would be coming back to a situation were he is having to deal with a new head coach, offensive line coach, offensive coordinator, and as we have clearly seen, a different way of doing things than what Ogden has been used to for 10 years. That is hard to get anyone to do, let alone convince someone that wonders if he wants to play anymore.

- There is no doubt that one of the biggest motivating factors for Ogden coming back the last couple of years is to get another Super Bowl ring. Players say all the time that the worst part of winning a Super Bowl is that you always want another because you realize how special of a moment that it is. Money is not what Ogden has played for; he has taken care of himself very well financially. Looking at this team and the season they are coming off of, there are not a lot of people predicting the Ravens to make the playoffs, so that is something I am sure Ogden is thinking about.

- There is also a segment on the Ravens website of pictures of Ogden titled Legendary 75 that was posted yesterday. I felt that on the final game of last season when Ogden had his wife and son on the sideline for the final couple of minutes that he was done playing.

So in the next 24 hours, I expect we will get closure on the career of Ogden. I consider myself fortunate to have covered him for the last 5 seasons, and realize that I watched one of the truly best ever at his position, and a sure fire Hall of Famer. That is going to be one heck of a class in Canton in 2013 when Ogden, Brett Favre, Michael Strahan, Warren Sapp, and possibly Steve McNair, could be inducted.

Notes from passing camp

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 20:34:47 GMT

The Ravens concluded another day of passing camp this afternoon. Here are some news and notes from today:

- John Harbaugh did not speak much to the media today. He is going to have his coordinators speak with the media on a regular basis to allow media and fans to hear different voices and to give his coaches exposure.

- The Ravens announced that the quarterbacks, rookies, and select veterans will report to training camp on July 21. July 22 will be the start of practice with two a days and then the rest of the team will report on the 23^rd. The Ravens will have an administrative day on July 24^th which will be closed to the public. The Ravens will put out a more detailed schedule later as it relates to the training camp.

- Joe Flacco returned to the Ravens today to practice. Joe had to miss the last passing camp because of his class had not graduated from school. The Ravens also rearranged the time of their rookie camp due to Flacco not being able to be here. It is jokingly referred to it as Camp Flacco.

- Dan Cody has looked good so far this season and was at practice today. Look for Dan to play more of a defensive end this season than as a linebacker. Dan could be the guy who comes in as the third down defensive end. Coaches still rave about what Dan can do for this defense, he just has to prove that he can stay healthy and contribute to the team.

- I continue to be impressed with what I have seen from Troy Smith. I still feel like he will be the guy under center to start the season for the Ravens. Troy continues to make solid throws and shows an ability to get out of the pocket and make things happen with his feet. Kyle Boller started out looking like today was going to be a strong day for him, but then some of the same issues you have seen with Kyle came out again.

- Chris Chester did not get a ringing endorsement from Cam Cameron today. Here is what Cam had to say when he was asked about Jason playing center “We’ll keep in there, without question. Now, he can play guard as well, which is a plus. Chris Chester can play center as well and now Marshal Yanda has moved where he can play tackle, but he can also play guard. We had to develop a third center, so we said, ‘Marshal, you’re the guy,’ and he looked at me like I was from another planet. So we worked on his snapping for two weeks, and then we threw him in there and never looked back.”

- Cam Cameron also addressed the tackle position:” Adam Terry will be a right tackle for us, and Jared Gaither is a left tackle for us. Mike Kracalik has played left tackle for us. Right now we’re going to do everything we can to get Adam settled at right tackle. It could be a situation where he’d move over there.But right now he’d be at right tackle and Jared at left tackle.”

- Rex Ryan referred to his new guys Haruki Nakamura and Tom Zbikowski as the mixed martial arts safeties, “we might not be able to cover anybody, but we’re going to beat up somebody.” Zbikowski has boxed while Nakamura is “skilled in martial arts”.

- Still no word on the future of Jonathan Ogden. Everyone here is under the assumption that Ogden is not coming back this year. Cam Cameron said today “you have a lot of respect for the guy, and you enjoy watching him play. But the bottom line is you’ve got to move on.” Ogden is supposed to be in town next week for a golf tournament, so maybe then he will announce his retirement.

- Joe Flacco said while he could not be here for the passing camps, he would go out with his dad and his brother and had them stand in places where the routes would go and then would go through his drop backs and throw to them. Joe said his dad is getting a little old, so he would just place his dad in an area.

- The Ravens will have another passing camp next week which will be the last time these guys will be together as a team before training camp. The Ravens will have a rookie camp later this month before they move onto training camp.

Recap of Elite XC show

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 20:13:28 GMT

What a wild night it was in Newark New Jersey for the Elite XC show. First off a big congratulation goes out to Binky Jones from Ground Control after his dominating performance in his win over Calvin Katter. Binky finished the fight with a rear naked choke that was in tight and signaled the end of the night for Katter.

Here are my thoughts on the fights that were on television:

Brett Rogers vs Jon Murphy: Brett just crushed Murphy flush on the jaw with a big right hand. Murphy was in dream land when he hit the mat. There were some questionable moments during the night, but this was not one of them. Murphy was swinging for the fences and got caught. Rogers would entertain way more later in the evening which I will get to in a bit. Busta Rhymes came out to the cage with Rogers and Busta has put on some pounds since back in the day.

Joey Villasenor vs Phil Baroni: I think Phil Baroni spent more time walking to the cage with his Ric Flair than he did in the actual fight. Baroni was absolutely rocked by several unanswered shots to his face. This again was a legit stoppage, and trust me if anyone would have cried if the fix would have been in, it would have been Baroni, but he admitted in the post fight interview that he took a beating.

Gina Carano vs Kaitlin Young : The building went crazy when Gina made her way to the cage, and I can see why. There have been many who have thought Gina is not as dedicated to mixed martial arts now that she is doing movies, tv, and video games. For those who thought that, she proved that wrong Saturday night. After a close 1^st round, Gina dominated Kaitlin in the 2^nd ultimately leading to the fight being stopped due to a nasty cut under Kaitlin’s eye, this was a very legit stoppage. That was a nasty cut under her eye and seeing her after the fight; her eye was swollen and looked like she had a lacrosse ball stuck under her eye.

Robbie Lawler vs Scott Smith: This was the fight of the night. Robbie and Scott were going back and forth the entire fight. After fans who are not very knowledgeable were booing these two fighters early on, soon everyone was hanging on every second of the fight. Into the third round Smith incidentally caught a finger in the eye from Robbie. At this point the fight was stopped to give Smith a chance to regroup. Smith was holding his eye and taking a while to try and get his vision back when the doctor came in and said the fight had to be stopped. Apparently Smith told the doctor he could not see, but would be ok in a little while. The doctor decided she could not risk that and decided to stop the fight. Since it was a title fight, under New Jersey rules, it can not go to the judges since three rounds were not completed. Here is the score card from the fight up to the stoppage:

Judge Bittencourt : Rd. 1: 10-9 Lawler Rd. 2 : 10-9 Smith

Judge Colon : Rd. 1: 10-9 Lawler Rd. 2 : 10-9 Smith

Judge Crosby : Rd. 1: 10-9 Lawler Rd. 2: 10-9 Lawler

Both fighters were awarded their fight bonuses and clearly will see each other again. After the fight, Smith was in the press conference room, and his face was an absolute mess. Smith also stated that he broke his foot during the fight with Lawler.

This is where the controversy would begin, but would be far from over with before the night was through.

Kimbo Slice vs James Thompson: First off the roof almost came off the building when Kimbo came to the cage. I would guess to say 85% of the over 8,000 that were in attendance were there to see Kimbo. Kimbo was completely out of his element when Thompson took him to the ground. Thompson really did not take advantage of the situation in my opinion as he had several chances to try and submit Kimbo. I thought Thompson won the first two rounds. I question if Kimbo tapped or not during the 2^nd round. Several people, including fighters, media, and others said he clearly tapped, but they did not stop the fight. I also think that the ref saved Kimbo at the end of the 2^nd round when he took about 10-15 punches to the face. Also Thompson had Kimbo on the ground and in a dominating position called side control before the ref made them stand up. The stoppage at the end was questionable also in my opinion. Kimbo had connected on Thompson’s ear, and blood was pouring out, but I do not think that was enough to stop the fight. Kimbo probably would have finished Thompson, but he had taken much harder shots than that earlier in the fight and answered right back. I would say that if 85% of the arena was for Kimbo before the fight, about 35% were for him after the fight. There were many boo’s and other chants being said when the fight was stopped.

The post fight press conference took an interesting turn when Brett Rogers called out Kimbo Slice to his face and used words such as garbage, and other words I am not allowed to type or say to his face. He looked Kimbo in the face and told him “you tapped out” referring to the controversy surrounding the fight. He also said I did not know you could win a fight three times and still lose referring to Thompson. Kimbo took exception to that and got up and then things went crazy for about 5 minutes. Scott Smith who was on the podium with other fighters at the press conference, immediately got up and hopped out of the way on a broken foot to avoid being in the confrontation. Gina Carano was pulled out of the way by her father who was a quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. Robbie Lawler and Phil Baroni were trying to play peace keeper and keep Rogers and Kimbo from each other as much as possible.I was at one time standing next to Kimbo’s brother in the back of the room before he ran to the front of the room as both fighters entourage’s soon joined into the shouting and insulting one another. It was a very intense couple of moments there in the press conference and it was real, that was not staged at all. You knew something was going to happen when Kimbo walked in the room and walked across the stage shaking every fighters hand before he reached Rogers who basically shrugged Kimbo off and would not even look at him. I will be posting the edited audio of the confrontation on the website this afternoon. Here is a video from Sherdog.com of the confrontation between Rogers and Kimbo.

There were some celebrities in the press conference after the fight as Shawne Merriman of the Chargers was in the room along with Brad Penny and Rafael Furcal of the Los Angles Dodgers. Matt Hughes was also in the room along with Mark Coleman, the newly inducted UFC Hall of Famer. Plaxico Burres walked in the arena during one of the early fights in the night and the building went crazy. There were several of the New York Giants and Knicks in attendance for the fights.

I had an absolute blast covering my first live MMA event, and hope to do more of them in the future. I am sure this card along with tonight’s Urijah Faber Jens Pulver fight will be a big topic of discussion this Thursday on the MMA segment during the Rob Long Show.

Like to hear what you thought of the fights, whether you are a novice or a MMA fan.

From the Prudential Center in Newark,NJ

Sat, 31 May 2008 21:02:42 GMT

So I have arrived here at the Prudential Center and am about 15 feet from where the fights will be taking place tonight. It is pretty interesting now as they are rehearsing for Busta Rhymes who will come to the cage with Brett “Grim” Rogers which will be the first fight on television tonight. It is funny because there is a 40 something year old white guy walking down the ramp mouthing the words to a Busta Rhymes song.

Elite XC has a very nice set up here at the arena and it looks like it will come across well on television. Frank Shamrock and Gus Johnson will call the fights on CBS. As I type right now, Gus Johnson is in the ring and practicing interviewing the fighters after the fights. Matt Serra and his fighter along with Binky Jones are in the ring getting a feel for the cage tonight.

I will be back with more as the event gets closer to beginning.

Big weekend for mixed martial arts

Sat, 31 May 2008 14:02:47 GMT

This is a huge weekend for the sport of mixed martial arts. This is a weekend that if you are on the fence about mma, or have a half hearted interest, this could be the turning point.

First tonight in New Jersey is the debut of MMA on television, when Elite XC has its first ever card on CBS. This is going to be a huge event, the big hype around this card is for the first time a lot of the world will get to see Kimbo Slice. I am heading up to the show in a little while and am very excited about it. Also tonight you will see Gina Carano who people might recognize as Crush from the American Gladiators television show. Not only is Gina not bad to look at, but she can fight also. One of the other fights that I am looking forward to is Baltimore’s own and one of John Rallo’s prize students Binky Jones. Binky is an awesome fighter and even better person. I have had the privilege of taking classes with Binky at Ground Control and he is very talented and can end a fight in a hurry on the ground.

Sunday night make sure you turn on Versus network at 9 p.m. to watch what might go down as one of the greatest fights in mixed martial arts history when the WEC featherweight title will be on the line when Jens Lil Evil Pulver takes on the champion The California Kid Urijah Faber. Urijah was on with Rob and John Rallo this past Thursday to talk about the fight. This fight would headline any MMA pay per view in the world, but it is free as long as you have Versus. Faber versus Pulver has been a fight that fans, media, other fighters, and everyone else has been hoping to see for a long time. These are two guys that are going to be in attack mode from the opening bell. I will bet you that if you watch this fight, you will be an awe of it. I will be in front of my television with a nice beverage and something to eat, because this will be must see television.

So a big weekend for the MMA sports world coming up. I am not sure as to what the access will be at the Elite XC show tonight in New Jersey, but hope to have some pictures and audio from the event later this week. I will also be doing a blog once I get to the Prudential Center this afternoon.

From passing camp

Wed, 28 May 2008 19:45:45 GMT

Here are a couple of quick observations from passing camp today:

- I continue to be impressed by the play of Troy Smith. I have felt for a while that he will be the starter for this team when the season starts. Troy was not 100% perfect, but he was very accurate and threw a couple of very impressive passes. I spoke with a couple of offensive players who said he is in such control of the huddle and learning the offense so quick.

- Willis McGahee was at the first volunteer camp of the season, which I think is a good thing for the Ravens. Willis looked good while working out today, and made some nice catches and runs out of the backfield. I think this could be a big year for Willis with the Ravens this year.

- Edgar Jones looked impressive to me while he played tight end for the Ravens today. Edgar was a tight end in high school and volunteered to run some routes at tight end for the team. Todd Heap took a huge amount of snaps today as there continues to be no depth at the tight end position with Dan Wilcox likely out till after the start of training camp, and Quinn Sypniewski done for the year. Xavier Lee will also get a look at tight end also.

- A couple of the Ravens have gotten new numbers. Tom Zbikowski is now wearing # 25 while Xavier Lee is wearing #82.

- Mark Clayton looked good at practice today, and it is good to see Mark running around healthy again on the football field.

- A lot of the Ravens were taking a fishing trip this afternoon as a team to do some bonding. This is a yearly event and usually spear headed by Kelly Gregg and Jarrett Johnson.

- Speaking of Jarrett Johnson, we were talking about the O’s-Yankees game today. I have seen Jarrett a couple of times here at Orioles games before. Jarrett told me that he is friends with Lance Cormier of the Orioles and wanted to see Lance pitch a little more last night.

- Interesting how O’s and Ravens players are friends. Kevin Millar and Kyle Boller are friends, Mark Clayton and Brian Roberts worked out at the same place in Arizona, and now Jarrett and Lance are friends.

- Pretty cool to see John Harbaugh meet Lenny Moore today after practice. Lenny went up to John and introduced himself to him and you could almost see the respect that Coach Harbaugh has for Lenny Moore. The Ravens do a great thing by staying connected to the Lenny Moore’s of the world, and even guys from the past Ravens teams. Often you will see Kyle Richardson, Spencer Folau, Brad Jackson, Michael McCrary, and many others walking the halls in Owings Mills.

An Amazing Game at Camden Yards

Wed, 28 May 2008 05:16:56 GMT

Tonight was a game that I will not forget for a long, long time. MASN can now add this to their catalog of O’s classics; it was one of those games. This game had everything you could ask for in a game to have.

It was amazing to be in the O’s clubhouse tonight and listen to almost every single player say it was the best game they have ever played in or been a part of. From Dave Trembley who got so emotional talking about the win, that he cut his press conference short, to Kevin Millar, to Aubrey Huff, Jamie Walker, and many others said it was game for the memory banks. I encourage you to listen to the audio in the audio vault from post game tonight and hear the guys talk about the win and the way this team plays. They are not the most talented team in baseball, but they are scrappy and fun to watch.

I do not think anyone would say that the O’s teams of the past would have been able to come back from the deficit they were in tonight and pull out a win, from Brian Roberts’s amazing double play in the 10^th inning, to Alex Cintron’s game winning hit in the 10^th. Also factor in the five homeruns that were hit by the Orioles tonight. Kevin Millar said that during batting practice this afternoon they could sense that the ball was going to be jumping out of the ballpark tonight.

The Orioles did a pretty cool thing when the came started backup in the bottom of the ninth inning after a 67 minute rain delay when they invited all the fans that stayed to come down to the lower seating bowl to watch the rest of the game. This is a collaborate decision that is made between the ushers, baseball operations, and other parts of the Orioles organization.

This was an amazing night of baseball here at Camden Yards.

Rain makes this game more interesting

Wed, 28 May 2008 02:38:58 GMT

Ok, so this game has gotten weird quick.

During Matsui’s at bat Joe Girardi came out and began to argue with the home plate umpire about the rain. After the final out, Alex Rodriquez was waiting on the field for someone to bring him his hat and glove when Girardi motioned for him to come off the field. Kyle Farnsworth had gone to the mound to get ready to pitch while talking to his catcher when Girardi and pitching coach Dave Eiland then motioned for them to come back into the dugout. Shortly after that the game was stopped which caused Dave Trembley to come out and begin to have a long conversation with the home plate umpire.

Here are a couple of interesting points from that. If Girardi was so concerned with the safety of his players, why did he have both Alex Rodriquez and Johnny Damon stealing ?

One of the funnier moments of the night came while Girardi was out complaining about the rain. After he realized he was getting no where with home plate umpire Doug Eddings he looked at second base umpire Dana DeMuth and held up his arms as if to complain about the rain. Upon doing that DeMuth basically shrugged off Girardi.

From Camden Yards

Wed, 28 May 2008 00:47:31 GMT

Here are a couple of notes from Camden Yards

There have been some very long and hard hit homeruns here so far. The homeruns that Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambi hit just landed. Giambi hit his second ball of his career onto Eutaw Street. Melvin Mora tried to hit Latroy Hawkins in the Yankees bullpen with his homerun in the 5^th inning. In a related note, Mora said it was not intentional.

Grevis Vasquez is here sitting in front of the press box and was jumping up and down like a wild person when Bobby Abreu launched his homerun out of Camden Yards.

Although there has been a combined six homeruns hit here so far tonight, that is still a long way from the record of 11 from July 1,1994 versus the California Angels. The Angels hit five that night while the Orioles hit six; here is the box score from that night.

The record for most homeruns by an opponent in one game is six which where hit by the Texas Rangers on August 22, 2007.

Jason Giambi’s homerun went on to Eutaw Street for the 41^st in Camden Yards history. It was the second one he has hit out there. His other one was on Sep.29, 2005, off of Erik Bedard. Can you guess who had the first one into Eutaw Street and who it was off of?

Back with more later, I think there might be a chance that home run record could be in jeopardy.

Notes from Camden Yards

Tue, 27 May 2008 22:16:25 GMT

Pretty interesting watching Dave Trembley and Joe Girardi talk today before the game. They were on the field talking while the catchers and pitchers were out taking batting practice. It was neat to hear Trembley talk about what he was talking about with Girardi before the game today. You can click on the Dave Trembley audio in the audio vault to listen to the entire pregame press conference. Also was interesting to see Tony Pena showing Joe Girardi’s son on how to catch a pop up behind the plate.

BJ Surhoff was here while the Orioles were taking batting practice and then had a very lengthy conversation with both Mike Mussina and Derek Jeter. Speaking of Mussina, do your self a favor and pick up a copy of John Feinstein’s new book Living on the Black. It was without a doubt one of the best books that I have ever read and a great story that is told.

Here are some other notes from the ballpark:

-On June 13^th, the Orioles will honor the ’79 team here at Camden Yards when the O’s play the Pirates. Earl Weaver and Doug DeCinces will be here as a part of the celebration. The Orioles will wear the throwback uniforms for that game. It is also firework night that night at the ballpark.

-June 17 the O’s will honor Wild Bill Hagy on his birthday when they have Wild Bill Hagy t-shirt night. The t-shirt will have the number 34 on it to honor section 34.

-July 23^rd the O’s will hold a 83 Turn Back the Clock celebration to honor the World Series team by handing out 25^th Anniversary World Series pennant.

My guess is that it will be a huge turnout for Wild Bill Hagy t-shirt night.

Nick needs some support

Tue, 27 May 2008 18:12:05 GMT

Nick Markakis is having a decent year so far. He is batting .258 with 9hr and 24 rbi’s. The problem as has been talked about all season long so far is the lack of support that he gets from the hitters in front and behind him.

Here is a look at the numbers on the season for Melvin Mora and Aubrey Huff as they compare to the batters who hit in the #2 and #4 slots for their team in the American League the last two days.

Melvin has a .239 avg which is third lowest with only David Dellucci (CLE).228 and Gary Matthews Jr. (LAA) with .218 average in front of him. Also looking at the other key stat for a guy like Melvin in my opinion is his on base percentage. Just on the Orioles team, only Ramon has a lower OBP .248 than Melvin’s.295. Again comparing Melvin’s season stats to the season stats of the rest of the #2 hitters over the last two days in the A.L., Melvin has the lowest. To be fair to Melvin, he has done an exceptional job of hitting with runners in scoring position. Melvin is batting .409 with less than two outs and .444 with two outs.

Aubrey Huff and Kevin Millar have both taken turns batting in the #4 spot for the Orioles. For Huff of the 15 hitters who batted #4 in the American League the last two days, he has the second lowest batting average .246. Only Carlos Pena has a lower average at .238. Huff’s power numbers for the season with other guys who batted #4 the last two days are about middle of the pack. Only Magglio Ordonez (9) and Carlos Pena (10) have more homeruns than Huff (8), and then there are a bunch of guys with seven or eight. Huff has 28 rbi’s which puts him seventh among the hitters who batted #4 for their team.

Here are the numbers of Millar and Huff when they bat fourth and fifth.

Millar #4 -.216avg 4hr 12 rbi(126 plate appearances)

#5 - .263avg 2hr 9 rbi(64 PA)

Huff #4 -.293avg 3hr 13rbi (87 PA)

#5 -.200avg 4hr 12 rbi (92 PA)

Catching up with former Ravens

Tue, 27 May 2008 10:59:26 GMT

So last night I was watching a little bit of the AFL game between Georgia and New Orleans, when I recognized a player with the last name of Rimpf on the New Orleans VooDoo team. So I decided to do a little research and see what other names I recognized from the AFL that had spent some time here in Baltimore. Whether it was being a part of a Super Bowl team like Marcus Nash, former draft picks like Ron Johnson, or guys who were just passing by on the way to other teams.

So here is the list of guys who are in the AFL that I found that were a part of the Ravens at some point.

Todd Devoe – WR Arizona Rattlers

Travis LaTendresse – WR Chicago Rush

Cole Magner – WR Grand Rapids Rampage

Terrell Maze – DB Los Angeles Avengers

Ryan Riddle – DL Los Angeles Avengers

Brian Rimpf – OL New Orleans VooDoo

Ron Johnson – WR Orlando Predators

Mike Mabry – C/DL Philadelphia Soul

Stoney Case – QB Tampa Bay Storm

Dwayne Missouri – DL Utah Blaze

Steve Edwards – OL Arizona Rattlers

Marcus Nash – WR Dallas Desparados

James Roe – WR San Jose Sabercats

So after enjoying looking up former Ravens in the AFL, I thought I would check in the CFL, because there had to be at least one former Raven on a team. I was pleasantly surprised at the number of guys that I found in the CFL. They also range from a guy with Super Bowl ring like Patrick Johnson, to draft picks to guys who never made it out of training camp.

Rufus Skillern –WR BC Lions

Fred Stamps – WR Edmonton Eskimos

Darian Durant – QB Saskatchewan Roughriders

Lance Frazier – DB Saskatchewan Roughriders

Calvin Carlyle – DB Rhein Fire

Patrick Johnson – WR Toronto Argonauts

Josh Harris – QB Montreal Alouettes

Brian Bratton – WR Montreal Alouettes

This list is by no means 100% absolute everyone that might have ever spent some time with the Ravens. These are just names that I recognized from knowing the team and remembering most of these guys from their days at training camp.

From Camden Yards

Mon, 26 May 2008 18:53:56 GMT

Here is the Red Sox rotation for the upcoming series:

Josh Beckett (Friday)

John Lester (Saturday)

Bartolo Colon (Sunday)

Dice – K (Monday)

- Why anyone would run on Nick Markakis is beyond me. He has an amazingly accurate arm.

- Willis McGahee will throw out the first pitch here at Camden Yards on Sunday June 1 versus the Red Sox. Willis will also bring a group of 10 kids who will get to watch batting practice from the field.

- Pretty cool to see a guy in the Navy reenlist on the field before today’s game. Almost all of the Yankees team was standing on the top step and applauding the man after his reenlistment.