Young, Struggling Terps

The Terps lost a heart breaker last weekend. I don't think it will be the last of the season unfortunately. After being blown out by Cal and barely beating JMU it wasn't that hard to see a game like this coming. But it's still hard to take. This season is going to be terrible. Really, really terrible. But I don't care, I love my Terps. It's really early in the season but I've already started the wait til next year talks. They're so young, there are are so many freshman, next year this team will be better. I keep telling this to myself. It's the only way I'm going to survive this season.

Luckily I was spared from watching the game on Saturday because my computer was acting up and wouldn't let me access ESPN360 which was the only medium broadcasting the game. So I put on the gamecast and took a nap. I woke up to find that Maryland had won 31-29. My gamecast must have not registered the last second field goal. I was surprised and perturbed when I went to read the recap of the game. But I think this is somewhat symbolic of how the Terps season is going to be. Any hope I have of them winning will be squashed by reality.

But it doesn't matter. I'll continue to root for them and hope for the best because it's the only thing I know how to do. Meanwhile, I'll be telling myself it has to get better and keep hoping that by the end of the season we will look like a promising young team with everything starting to come together.

Here's hoping they can pull it together against Rutgers tomorrow. GO TERPS!

Ravens Win, Top Power Rankings

So normally I scoff at power rankings. At the end of the regular season it's about who wins the most games, not what some experts think. And at the end of the playoffs it's still about who won. Screw the odds makers and expert picks. Power rankings are basically something for people to talk about during the week between football games. Oh, ESPN says they're the best, whatever. In college football the rankings only matter because the BCS is worthless and ridiculous. But in the NFL they are completely and totally pointless. Except for this week.

This week I'm taking the chance to tell everyone that the Ravens are ranked No. 1 by ESPN and Yahoo! I don't care that it's two weeks into the season. I don't care that the Ravens can't seem to stop the pass. Right now there are impartial experts out there saying the Ravens are the best in league. And I like that. So whatever, I'll shelf my basic belief that the rankings are worthless for a week. (They are worthless.) But they do serve as a reason to bring up the Ravens and gloat about them.

The Ravens beat the Chargers, another AFC perennial powerhouse, 31-26 on Sunday. The game was exhilarating to watch with one of the best hits I've seen Ray Ray make in a long time. It was timely, hard and a game winner. Say what you will about Ray Lewis loosing a step or piling on but this hit was nasty.

This year's team is determined to win. Whether through the air or with a stifling defense. Yes, they have to improve against the pass. But the gains they've made on their own offense are startling. Watch out this week when the Browns come to town for a divisional match-up. The Browns look to under preform against everyone this season. Even the Bengals have already beaten what was supposed to be a good team, the Packers. Next week the Ravens will look to improve their play and wash away any doubt that they are a team to be reckoned with.

The thing I believe most contributed to the Ravens topping the rankings this week is the emergence of Joe Flacco as a legitimate passing threat. Two games into the season and I heard him being called the best deep passer in the NFL on ESPN a few days ago. Ok, so I guess that was one week into the season. Regardless, not since the one great season with McNair have the Ravens had a legitimate threat at quarterback. That year they won 13 games. Last year, with a rookie, they went to the AFC Championship game. This year it looks like the pieces are coming together and great things should be expected of this team.

On that note, GO RAVENS, and here's Lewis's hit on Sproles:



Photo: ESPN/AP/Denis Poroy

Football Season Is Here!

The Ravens won! The Terps won! Even the Orioles won 2 out of 3 against the Yankees! It was a great weekend to be a Baltimore/MD sports fan. So what if the MD win was ugly. And who cares if the Ravens special teams leaves a little to be desired. It's still early in the season and there were a lot of good things that happened.

First of all, MD is going to struggle for any wins they can get this season. And for that reason, I don't care if it's ugly. This is not a national championship team. This is a young team trying to figure out what it's doing on the football field. I have faith that this team will continue to get better over the season. And since MD is always tumultuous to watch, I think they will still be able to finish with a decent, but not great record.

As for the Ravens, they won the opening game. That's whats important. At the end of the season, it's really all about wins and loses. Flacco looked good under center and the Ravens are undefeated right now. All of the sudden the Ravens have a passing game. So while the defense and special teams might not have shined yesterday, the Ravens have a new element to their game. And the special teams might be a bit rusty. But I'm happy with the play. If we can consistently pull out wins, I'm not that worried about how we get them.

Overall, it was a good weekend. And it's now football season. I can hardly contain my glee. I love everything about it. So exciting. Cheering on my team, tailgating with friends, talking trash about fantasy teams. Yeah, this is a great time of year.

Photo: David Bergman/SI