By Dave Gilmore, on February 3rd, 2012  We know our founding editor had a birthday this week, but did you know that on Tuesday Ben “Honey Buns” Cavil turned the big 4-0? Who’s Ben Cavil? And you call yourselves Ravens fans. As we all know, he saw regular time and started about half the games at guard for the vaunted 1997-1998 Baltimore offensive line. I would say more, but in 2007, the Sun’s Mike Klingaman wrote THE DEFINITIVE Ben “Honey Buns” Cavil piece in the history of the Internet.
The only info Klingaman’s piece (which is about 50% pastry-related) is missing is that Cavil also played a year in the famed XFL for the NY/NJ Hitmen. I would be severely disappointed if he didn’t have “HONEY BUNS” on his jersey.
Go ahead and wish Cavil a happy birthday on LinkedIn, and if you’re in the market for a home in the Houston area, Honey Buns is your man.
Got an item for TWIBSH? Send it to baltimorecaps@gmail.com or @BalSportsReport on Twitter.
By Zach Wilt, on February 3rd, 2012  Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo is coming off one of the best seasons of his career. He played in more games in 2011 than he did in the previous two years combined and posted a career high 31 tackles.
I was surprised to see just how big of a role he played this season on defense because I’ve always thought of Ayanbadejo as only a special teams player.
Ayanbadejo enters this offseason as a free agent and he tweeted on Wednesday that the Ravens should expect “no discounts.” He added that it wouldn’t take much to keep him in Baltimore and said that he just wants to “be treated fairly.”
When asked directly if he would take less money to stay with the Ravens, Ayanbadejo responded “Nah.”
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By Zach Wilt, on February 3rd, 2012  Well the Ravens have their man. The team announced on Thursday afternoon that Don Martindale will be Baltimore’s new linebackers coach. Martindale replaces Dean Pees who was promoted to defensive coordinator after Chuck Pagano left to coach the Colts.
We all should have known that Jack Del Rio wouldn’t reunite with the Ravens. I cited “different eras” as my reasoning when first discussing candidates to replace Pagano. Del Rio came from the Brian Billick era Ravens, a team and method that the front office and ownership have decided to put behind them.
Martindale comes to Baltimore with 18 years of coaching experience in both the NFL and at the college level. Not surprisingly, he was on Jack Harbaugh’s coaching staff at Western Kentucky.
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By Zach Wilt, on February 3rd, 2012  The Ravens decision to shut down training camp at McDaniel College has been something that irked me from the minute the team snuck the news out late on a Friday afternoon. I still believe that this decision proves the team no longer has a desire to grow their fan base or thank the diehards and shows that this team wants to remain out of the spotlight as much as possible.
But you’ve read my complaints and heard me pile on the franchise on the BSR Podcast – I think you get the point.
When the Ravens quietly released the heartbreaking news of a closed training camp in 2012, they promised to provide free practices at M&T Bank Stadium. Personally, I’ve never been a big fan of the practice experience at the stadium, but at least it’s something.
Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti added that another public practice in Annapolis is a possibility this offseason. ”I’d like to get one down to Annapolis; it’s my neck of the woods,” Bisciotti said speaking at the State of the Ravens press conference according to Aaron Wilson at Ravens24x7.com. ”So, maybe we can talk with Navy and maybe get it down there in the summertime, which would be good.”
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By Zach Wilt, on February 3rd, 2012  I’ve eagerly awaited the day that Brian Billick gets his next head coaching job so that I can add my second favorite NFL team. I love the guy. The demeanor, attitude and confidence of the Ravens during his tenure were a direct translation of his personality and became my favorite attributes of the early Ravens.
Billick hasn’t coached a game since 2007 and all signs point to him remaining in the booth rather than returning to the sideline.
“It’s a general manager’s game. I’m not what they’re looking for,” Billick said according to Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com. ”That’s fine. They want a head coach today that doesn’t have to worry about personnel, the cap or even the media. We’ll lock you in a room and you come out with a genius game plan. They’re looking for X’s and O’s guys. That’s the world we live in right now.”
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By BSR Staff, on February 2nd, 2012  AskMen.com votes Sofia Vergara hottest woman of 2012 It’s Super Bowl week, but in Baltimore there’s nothing Super about it — besides maybe the strange 65 degree weather.
The guys discuss the biggest topics going down in Indianapolis this week, make some Super Bowl prop bets, put a bow on the Ravens season and discuss playoff expansion in Major League Baseball.
You can get in touch with the BSR Podcast by sending your emails to podcast@baltimoresportsreport.com or leaving a voicemail at 443-379-4BSR (4377).
Here are some of topics discussed in this week’s show:
Super Bowl Week
- Bernard Pollard knocked Tom Brady out for an entire season, now his hit on Rob Gronkowski in the AFC Championship could could keep him out of the big game.
- Who is bigger news: Peyton Manning or Eli Manning? Will Peyton Manning ever play again and if he does with who?
Recapping The Ravens
- Steve Bisciotti promises to keep both Ray Rice and Joe Flacco
- Cam Cameron is back as the Ravens offensive coordinator. Is bringing Cam back the best move for the Ravens going forward?
- Jim Caldwell joins the Ravens coaching staff as the quarterbacks coach.
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By Zach Wilt, on February 2nd, 2012  The Ravens were one play away from playing this Sunday in Indianapolis. All Lee Evans has to do is fall down with the ball and it’s a Super Bowl 35 not a Super Bowl 42 rematch.
But Evans dropped the ball and Billy Cundiff missed a 32-yard field goal that killed the Ravens chances of sending the AFC Championship to overtime. It still stings just typing it.
Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti met with the media for his annual State of the Ravens press conference and even he acknowledged the painful loss. ”I’m not over it,” he said. ”Hold onto a ball. I mean that’s where it was this year.”
After reading the quotes and watching the press conference I’ve come to the conclusion that Bisciotti and the Ravens front office really believe that this is a championship caliber team. Bisciotti is content with this coaching staff and the talent on the field. He believes in Cam Cameron and thinks Joe Flacco will win multiple rings.
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By Zach Wilt, on February 1st, 2012 
Prior to the AFC championship, Joe Flacco was criticized more than any quarterback who made the postseason during his first four years in the NFL.
To be fair, Flacco did put the bullseye on his back when he told reporters that he didn’t feel he got enough credit or that Tim Tebow was receiving too much national attention.
During his annual State of the Ravens press conference, owner Steve Bisciotti acknowledged Flacco’s critics and took the side of his franchise QB. ”I don’t think I’ve ever seen a guy as maligned as him,” Bisciotti said according to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun. ”We believe in him.”
Bisciotti added that he plans to sit down with Joe Flacco and “start grinding out contract terms.”
By Zach Wilt, on January 31st, 2012  Michael Irvin might have completely glossed over thirty years of NFL history in Baltimore. The NFL Network analyst chimed in on this week’s most popular topic — no, not the Super Bowl — Peyton Manning’s future in Indianapolis.
Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay has publicly gone back and forth with franchise quarterback Peyton Manning about respecting the organization’s image. ”I don’t think it’s in a good interested to paint the horseshoe in a negative light,” Irsay said.
Irvin chimed in, “The horseshoe is first? The horseshoe is nothing before Peyton got here.”
Perhaps it was nothing in Indianapolis, but that isn’t the case in Baltimore.
“This horseshoe was garbage without Peyton — it was garbage when he got here and garbage when he left here this season,” he said according to Nate Davis of USA Today.
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By Dave Gilmore, on January 31st, 2012  The only thing more obsolete than the NFL Pro Bowl is complaining about the NFL Pro Bowl. Fans have been tired of the former for years and have now just given up on the latter and simply stopped watching. Making the Pro Bowl the NFL’s black sheep event is warranted for all the usual reasons people list.
There may have been a time when the NFL needed the Pro Bowl. That time is not 2012. I’m not propsing that it be tweaked, moved or reinvent it. The NFL needs to cut bait and simply can the Pro Bowl as we know it. So what does the league do the week before or the week after the Super Bowl? Tap the one asset the NFL has where there is any headroom for growth: new talent. College football all-star games are already suffering from “bowl sprawl,” with five major games in January. The future NFL star is the lowest-hanging fruit the NFL could possibly ask for.
Imagine if the NFL (with the cooperation of the NFLPA, which already stages a college all-star game), put on a top-flight all star game in Hawaii or Florida featuring the best draft-eligible players. The NFL Draft and Combine grow larger every year and this would be a great opportunity for NFL fans not immersed in the college game become familiar with their future NFL stars. Who wouldn’t watch that? It’s a slam-dunk. Roger Goodell, earn your extension and make this happen.
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By Zach Wilt, on January 31st, 2012  After spending a season without a quarterbacks coach, the Ravens decided Joe Flacco could use a little love.
The team officially announced on Monday that former Colts head coach Jim Caldwell would be mentoring Flacco. Former Ravens wide receiver and WBAL radio analyst, Qadry Ismail, spent a season with Caldwell in Indianapolis and he thinks that adding Peyton Manning’s former coach will be very beneficial to J-Flaccolicious.
“Jim Caldwell shall enhance your level of play,” Ismail tweeted to Flacco.
He shall, shall he?
Ismail later tweeted that “Caldwell really helped Peyton” during his tenure as the Colts quarterbacks coach from 2002-2008.
The last time the Ravens hired a former head coach to work with Flacco, it didn’t end well. Of course that guy was Jim Zorn.
By Zach Wilt, on January 31st, 2012  Here’s a motto Ravens fans live by: when in doubt, blame it on Kyle Boller.
Back in the 2003 draft, the Ravens selected Boller with the 19th overall pick. The Ravens were so high on the QB out of California (probably because they saw how far he could throw the ball from his knees) that they traded their second round pick in 2003 and first round pick in 2004 to the New England Patriots to get him.
As Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com points out, the Pats used that first round pick in ’04 to draft Vince Wilfork, now a four-time Pro Bowler.
Wilfork registered 74 tackles and two interceptions this season. He leads the Patriots with 2.5 sacks and three quarterback hits during the postseason.
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By Zach Wilt, on January 30th, 2012  UPDATE 2:20 PM: The Ravens announced on Twitter that it’s a done deal. Jim Caldwell is the team’s new quarterbacks coach.
Think of it as a trade.
The Ravens give the Colts their best coach, defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano, and return they get Indy’s Jim Caldwell, who was fired after a 2-14 season. Awesome.
7:00 AM: ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting (in a suit from a library) that Caldwell met with the Steelers over the weekend and he “plans to join” the Ravens offensive staff. ”Likely as a QB coach,” Schefter tweets.
Could this be the Ravens first step in luring Peyton Manning?
Haha. No. But that’s a fun topic to discuss during a long offseason.
By Zach Wilt, on January 30th, 2012 “That’s my team. That’s my quarterback,” Terrell Owens famously whined.
Out in Hawaii, former Ravens running back Willis McGahee caught some smack talk from a Baltimore fan about Tim Tebow. ”If you had a better quarterback you could have gone further,” the fan yelled to McGahee.
“That’s like saying if they [had] a better kicker they would have won right,” McGahee said back.
Ouch.
By Zach Wilt, on January 30th, 2012  The only person more surprised than Ravens fans that Cam Cameron is back as Baltimore’s offensive coordinator is Cam Cameron.
At 11 o’clock on Friday, Baltimore let out a collective grumble both verbally and on the Twitter as John Harbaugh announced that Cameron would be returning to call the Ravens plays.
Matt Vensel of Baltimore Sun posted some interesting comments from Cam-squared after the announcement. Apparently, Cameron told “some co-workers” that he didn’t believe he’d be back as his contract was due to expire and the Ravens had yet to reach out to him to renew it.
“I called Ozzie and said, ‘Hey, I’m just thrilled to be back,’” Cameron said according to Vensel. “Ozzie said, ‘Cam, in our minds, you were never gone.’
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