Ed Reed Isn’t 100 Percent Committed To Returning In 2012

It’s May, which means it’s the time of year for Ed Reed to say something concerning about his future with the Ravens.  Today he told SiriusXM that he’s “not 100 percent committed right now to playing this year.”

According to Rich Gannon, Reed is concerned about his health and long term future.

After Reed’s comments hit air, the local Ravens beat writers quickly extinguished the fire.  ”Reed has also said this offseason that he’d like to play four or five more years,” The Sun’s Jeff Zrebiec tweeted.

Zrebiec also points out that Reed said nearly a month ago that he was not 100 percent committed to returning in 2012.

Not only is this story just Ed being Ed, but it’s something he’s already said.

BSR Podcast: Now In Color And Yes, Kristen Wiig Is Hot

The guys introduce a new wrinkle to the podcast, live streaming video.  Stupid bets return to the show, the gang discusses how the Orioles can remain atop the AL East and break down Will Ferrell’s return to Saturday Night Live.

Join Zach, Patrick and Matt for this week’s edition of the best sports podcast in Baltimore, the BSR Podcast.

Here are some of the topics discussed on this week’s show:

Video Killed The Radio Star

  • In addition to providing audio downloads through BaltimoreSportsReport.com and iTunes, the BSR Podcast will now feature a live streaming video version of the show.
  • Viewers can tune in live to the show right here on BaltimoreSportsReport.com.  Record dates and times will be announced via BSR’s social media outlets.
  • Those who can’t watch live, can tune into the video version of the show every week. It will be featured in the show notes portion of each episode. Here’s this week’s:


READ MORE >>>

Billy Cundiff Could Face Some Serious Competition Against Justin Tucker

Not many Ravens fans questioned Billy Cundiff’s ability until he shanked a potential game tying 32-yard field goal in the AFC Championship.  I still blame head coach John Harbaugh, who failed to call a timeout while Cundiff raced to the field to kick the most important field goal of his career, but that’s beside the point.

This summer, Cundiff will receive some competition from undrafted rookie Justin Tucker and the early reports from rookie camp on the new kid are pretty good.

I can’t wait to head out to Westminster to check out this competition! …wait

Tucker kicked a 55-yard field goal and almost made one from 60 out at Owings Mills according to Jason Butt of CBSSports.com.  ”All I can say is I look forward to it, competing with a guy who’s had success,” Tucker said.

If you’re worried a rookie in a clutch situation, Tucker, from the University of Texas, is most famously known for hitting a game winning 40-yard field goal against Texas A&M during his senior year.

Baltimore Supports First Place Orioles With Respectable Weekend Crowds

The Sun's Eduardo A. Encina proves that beat writers CAN snap good pictures from their cell phones... and that fans showed up to OPACY on Sunday.

Okay, I admit it, I was wrong.

I questioned the loyalty of Orioles fans and they made me look like a fool this weekend.

After 11,938 people showed up on Monday to welcome home the Birds after their 5-1 road trip in New York and Boston I wrote this:

The Ravens will likely get bigger crowds at their practices this summer.

If you want the Orioles to do well, you’ve got to go out and support them when they do. If you want Adam Jones to re-sign in Baltimore, go out to the Yard and cheer him on.

This team just took five of six from the Yankees and Red Sox. What’s it going to take to put some butts in seats?

Apparently all it took was a battle for first place in the AL East between the O’s and Rays.  26,669 fans attended game one on Friday, 32,862 came to the Yard on Saturday and 29,552 showed up for the Mother’s Day matchup.  Well done Orioles fans.

The fans were so ruthless that Rays third baseman Evan Longoria told them to simmer down.  Mark Viviano tweeted that Saturday’s crowd was “by far the loudest” of the year even beating out Opening Day.
READ MORE >>>

Best of Tumblr: Please Stop Posting “Ravens” Porn

A weekly wrap-up of the best stuff you may have missed on our excellent Tumblr:

Ed Reed Takes Batting Practice With The Orioles

Ravens safety Ed Reed stopped by Camden Yards to watch the Orioles battle the Rays for first place in the American League East tonight. Before the game he shagged some fly balls and took batting practice with the team.

The Sun’s Dan Connolly reports that both of Reed’s Achilles “look OK.”

Too soon?

Derrick Mason Wants To Retire As A Raven

Despite spending just six of his fifteen years in the NFL with the Ravens, Derrick Mason still considers Baltimore home.

“I had some great, great memories there and I met a lot of great people,” Mason told The Sun’s Matt Vensel.  ”That’s my football family.”

Mason was released by the Ravens in 2011 and bounced around between the Jets and Texans this season before calling it quits.  He faced the Ravens in back-to-back weeks last season.

The All-Pro wide receiver told Vensel that he wants to retire as a Raven and has discussed the opportunity with the franchise.  Vensel tweeted that an announcement will likely be made when Mason officially retires.

Ravens Sign Entire 2012 Draft Class

Pierce arrives to The Castle

UPDATE: Jeff Zrebiec at The Sun reports that the Ravens have agreed to terms with six round pick Tommy Streeter, which means that Baltimore has have finished negotiations with their entire 2012 draft class.

It’s been a busy week at The Castle, as Ozzie Newsome and the Ravens continue to sign their draft picks.

This afternoon, the Ravens locked up second round pick Courtney Upshaw with a four year deal reportedly worth $5.296 million, $3.59 guaranteed.  Upshaw joins fellow second rounder Kelechi Osemele, third rounder Bernard Pierce and fourth rounders Gino Gradkoski and Christian Thompson to receive four year deals.

Pierce arrived to the Ravens facility this afternoon to get the tour.

As CBSSports.com’s Jason Butt points out, Pierce will likely be used this season as a replacement for Ricky Williams.  ”I can get short yardage,” Pierce said.  ”I can definitely get in and pass protect.  If they need me on special teams I can do that, too.”

I still see Pierce as the guy that was brought in to replace Ray Rice in a season or two and think that this season will be a big test for him as the franchise will analyze if he can fill that role.

Damien Woody Thinks Tony Romo Is Better Than Joe Flacco

The NFL Network is ranking their top 100 players of 2012 and even worse than you watching it, is me writing about it.

It’s a perfect excuse to talk football while nothing is really going on.  Well played, NFL.

Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco was recently ranked number 74, which is too high in Baltimore and too low for former NFL veteran and current ESPN analyst Damien Woody.

“I’m sorry but the players voted Joe Flacco higher than Tony Romo…..really?!?! You’ve got to be kidding me!!!!,” Woody tweeted this morning.

I guess Woody thinks that a guy with a one postseason win is better than a guy with five.  To be fair, Romo has three more regular season wins than Flacco… in two more seasons.

Welcome To Baltimore Jacoby Jones

Today former Texans wide receiver, perennial fantasy football sleeper and major contributor to the Ravens playoff win last year Jacoby Jones, became the newest Baltimore Raven. For those who don’t remember Jones inexplicably tried to field a punt with Cary Williams bearing down on him in the second round of the playoffs last year. When Jones bobbled the punt it resulted in the Ravens jumping out to an early 7-0 lead over the Texans and an eventual win. Five months later Jones will enter camp trying to help the Ravens by not bobbling the ball but holding onto it.

Jacoby Jones fumbles a punt against the Ravens in the second round of NFL playoffs.

There is a lot to like about Jones signing. First, he is an incredible physical specimen: 6-foot-2 1/2, 210 lbs. and a 4.49 forty-yard dash time. Simply put, he has all the physical skills needed in a #1 wide receiver. Jones’ physical attributes shouldn’t be quickly dismissed despite his lack of production in Houston. When players with these skills/attributes “get it” they become stars. In past NFL seasons players like Miles Austin, Vincent Jackson and Brandon Marshall were all recent “projects” with similar physical skills who’ve developed into #1 wide receivers out of nowhere. More analysis on Jones and how he fits into the 2012 Ravens after the jump.

READ MORE >>>

11,938 Fans Welcomed Home The First Place Orioles Last Night

The good news is that only 11,000 people saw the Rangers beat up on the O's

After sweeping the Boston Red Sox in a 17 inning epic battle at Fenway Park, the Orioles hopped on a plane and headed back home to Baltimore with the best record in baseball.  When they arrived to Oriole Park At Camden Yards, 11,939 fans were there to cheer them on as they took the field against the defending American League champion Texas Rangers.

That’s 24.8 percent capacity.

Did the weather play a factor?  Maybe a Monday night made it tough for fans to get to the Yard?  Or are Oriole fans still not sold on this team?

MLB.com’s Brittany Ghiroli tweeted that she “thought there’d be more people” in the stands.  I did too.

The Ravens will likely get bigger crowds at their practices this summer.
READ MORE >>>

Athletes Like Suggs, Rivera Deserve Freedom to Train, Not Restrictions

Suggs will be missed this season, but that doesn't mean players shouldn't be allowed to exercise in their own way.

This week has been bookended by two players at the top of their sports being cut down, at least for the year (I am not buying Terrell Suggs’ optimism that he will be back in November).  Suggs tore his Achilles playing a pick-up game of basketball while Yankees star closer Mariano Rivera tore his ACL while shagging fly balls during batting practice, a regular practice for both players and a way they try to stay in shape.  It would be easy to use this as an opportunity to question what players should be allowed to do, but it is important now more than ever to recognize that players need the freedom to exercise on their own terms regardless of what fluky but terrible accidents might happen.

In sports, perhaps more than any other career path, one’s economic wellbeing is determined by their performance.  If they fail to perform in the NFL they will be cut with minimal repercussions to their employer, and even in baseball players are constantly playing for the next contract.  There is no flying below the radar and keep collecting pay in professional sports.  As such, the best keep themselves in incredible shape and constantly train, and it can’t always be under team supervision.  READ MORE >>>

Best of Tumblr: Bohs, Hoes, And O’s Underwear Edition

A weekly wrap-up of the best stuff you may have missed on our excellent Tumblr:

Ravens Announce Details Of Three Open Training Camp Practices

Ravens training camp is dead as we know it, but owner Steve Bisciotti hinted at a few open practices in Annapolis this offseason.Ravens training camp as we know it is dead, but today the team announced details of three open-to-the-public practices this summer.

  • Saturday August 4 at M&T Bank Stadium
  • Sunday August 12 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis
  • Sunday August 19 at Stevenson University Mustang Stadium in Owings Mills

“We know we can’t duplicate the fan experiences we had at McDaniel College, but these opportunities will give many people an opportunity to get up close and personal outside of our home games,” Ravens president Dick Cass said in the team’s press release.

Thanks for thinking of us three times a year, Mr. Cass.

If you can’t make these three practices, you’re out of luck.  All other practices will be at the Ravens complex in Owings Mills.  Unless you have a super secret special badge, can punch in the 20 digit combination and pass through a retina scanner, you’re not watching a Ravens practice.

In addition to these three practices, John Harbaugh and members of the coaching staff will host the Ravens Football Clinic and Joe Flacco will host a “Passing Academy” with Tyrod Taylor at McDaniel College.

The Ravens also donated $100,000 to help McDaniel finish the construction of their new on-campus stadium.

Terrell Suggs Loss: 3.5 Points Allowed Per Game, 2 Wins

By now you know and have had hours to cope with the fact that Terrell Suggs will miss at least a good chunk of the 2012 season with an Achilles tear.

Suggs told ESPN’s Rachel Nichols that he will be back by mid-season.  ”Definitely beginning of November,” Aaron Wilson tweeted.  According to CBSSports.com, that’s a super optimistic timetable for recovery.  Will Brinson reports that it’s at least a nine month recovery from a full Achilles tear.

Over at TheBigLead.com, Jason Lisk used some fancy statistics to research what this loss will mean for the Ravens this season.

Twenty-nine other players, via searches using the play finder at pro football reference, have been a first team all-pro on defense since the merger, and then missed ten or more of their team’s games the following season. A handful retired, and of course there was Jerome Brown’s tragic car accident, while the rest suffered injuries.

Lisk concluded that based on the information in this group, the average points allowed per game rose from 17.3 to 20.8 and the average wins per season dropped from 9.8 to 7.9.
READ MORE >>>