By Zach Wilt, on February 29th, 2012 Even after his Joe Flacco comments this winter, the Sports Guy just gained a number of fans in the DC/Maryland/Virginia area with the simple changing of a Twitter avatar. Bill Simmons of ESPN’s Grantland.com change his Twitter picture to an icon that reads “Duke Sucks” in reaction to the University’s response to his credential request. The Sports Guy explained.
“Duke wouldn’t credential Grantland for Saturday’s UNC-Duke game. I already hated Duke but was diplomatic about it… no more. IT IS ON!”
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for publicly ripping Duke, but my love/hate relationship with Simmons kind of has me rooting against him on this one. I know that most sports franchises do not honor credential requests from websites, so I’m not surprised that Simmons was shot down by Duke and it’s kind of funny to see him shutout.
But anybody that works in the media that shouts “Duke Sucks” to 1,640,340 people has to receive some love from Maryland, right?
By Zach Wilt, on February 28th, 2012  Not only does ESPN’s John Clayton think that Joe Flacco is an “elite quarterback,” but he told Garrett Downing of BaltimoreRavens.com that he could see Flacco throwing for 4,000 yards in 2012.
“I can see him having a Pro Bowl season next year,” Clayton said at the NFL Scouting Combine Saturday. “The way the offense is constructed; there could be a desire to make him a 4,000-yard passer. He’s got the ability, clearly, to be a 4,000-yard passer.”
The 4,000 yard mark may seem like a lot, but Flacco was only 390 yards shy this season.
“The combination of one more threat – it could be Lee Evans – but also that young guy they draft or whatever they sign in free agency, they just need one more threat on the outside,” Clayton added.
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By Zach Wilt, on February 23rd, 2012  We’re not going to lie. It’s the worst sports time of year. There’s just no getting around it.
So this week on the BSR Podcast, Matt Lund and Zach Wilt break away from sports and discuss the upcoming Academy Awards with filmmaker Zach Griffin. They are also joined by co-host Patrick Guthrie live via satellite (or Skype) from San Francisco to talk some Maryland Terps.
Here are some of the topics discussed on this week’s edition of the BSR Podcast.
Terps National Embarassment
2012 Academy Awards
- Best Picture nominees: The Artist, The Descendants, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, The Help, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, The Tree of Life and War Horse.
- Actor in a Leading Role nominees: Demián Bichir, George Clooney, Jean Dujardin, Gary Oldman and Brad Pitt.
- Most Anticipated movies of 2012: The Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers, The Hobbit, Men In Black III and Skyfall.
- Community is BACK on TV!
- Zach Griffin talks about his latest work, Future Wars.
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By Zach Wilt, on February 17th, 2012  Don’t get me wrong. I’m a believer in Joe Flacco. I think we’ve seen what the guy is capable of and despite being disappointed with the end result of the AFC championship game, I was encouraged by the Flacco’s performance for the entire sixty minutes.
With all that said. He isn’t a top five quarterback in the NFL right now.
Flacco’s agent, Joe Linta, disagrees with me on that one. He told Matt Vensel of The Baltimore Sun that he sees his client at the top of the league at his position. ”If the game is about wins and losses, he has to be in the top five ,” Linta said.
In wins and losses I guess he’s right, but that’s a stupid way to judge any athlete. I’ve hated the win/loss column for pitchers in baseball and think its even more meaningless in this argument.
I certainly believe that Flacco could eventually crack that top five list. After watching Eli Manning’s transformation this season, hell anything can happen.
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By BSR Staff, on February 16th, 2012  We’re pulling out the roundtable for this week’s podcast. Ross Gore and Dave Gilmore join Zach Wilt, Matt Lund and Pat Guthrie on the program.
While Tebow-mania dominated the football season, Lin-sanity has taken over the slowest sports time of the calendar year. The guys break down Jeremy Lin’s rise to the top, discuss the latest Orioles news, talk some Terps football and of course Kate Upton’s SI swimsuit issue cover.
Here are some of the topics discussed on this week’s show.
The Orioles Can’t Seem To Catch A Break
Capitals Are On The Outside Looking In As NHL Trade Deadline Approaches
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By Matt Lund, on February 10th, 2012 
The 2011 Ravens brought about one of the best seasons in franchise history. They finished the regular season with a 12-4 record en route to the team’s third AFC North title in team history.
They finished 8-0 at home for the first time ever and swept the season series against the Pittsburgh Steelers for the first time since the 2006 season.
They featured a running back in the name of Ray Rice who led the NFL in total yards from scrimmage and brought along a rookie wide receiver in Torrey Smith who finished the season with seven touchdowns, setting a Ravens rookie record. They added a third Defensive Player of the Year award to the mantle with linebacker Terrell Suggs winning this season.
The Baltimore Ravens were two plays away from playing in Super Bowl XLVI, but overall was a season to remember for fans everywhere. Let’s take a final look at the Ravens season unit by unit. READ MORE >>>
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 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 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  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 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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By Dave Gilmore, on January 30th, 2012  Time to wipe the board clean. The wounds of the 2011 Ravens may still be fresh, but the seconds are already ticking away until the 2012 Ravens break training camp. While the number of free agent decisions the team needs to make might be minimal in quantity, the re-signing or lack thereof by some key pieces may affect the puzzle greatly. Matt Lund and I broke down every potential new deal and decision not to renew.
If you need to brush up on unrestricted vs. restricted free agency, please feel free to do so and then leave your calls in the comments. (Player ages are in parentheses.)
Skill Positions
———————–
RB Ray Rice (25)
D: If a long-term deal is inevitable for Rice, I’d be happy if the Ravens took care of it now rather than franchising him and waiting a year. I don’t love long-term deals for backs as it obviously exposes the team to much more risk than most positions. Whatever you gotta do, Keep.
M: Absolute no-brainer. It would be in the Ravens best interest to sign Rice to a long-term deal to avoid the hassle of franchising him and also having both he and Joe Flacco as impending free agents in 2013. The guy is your workhorse, and led the NFL in yards from scrimmage this season. He’s worth every penny. Keep.
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By BSR Staff, on January 26th, 2012  What do Heidi Klum and the Ravens have in common? What a crappy week. The Ravens gets bounced from the AFC Championship, then lose Chuck Pagano, the Orioles miss on Prince Fielder and Maryland loses to Duke.
If you need something to brighten your day, the BSR Podcast is the best we can do.
It’s not necessarily a positive spin on all the terrible news, but it should have you laughing and ignoring a terrible week in Baltimore.
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:
Breaking Down The AFC Championship
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