Daily Think - Ravens 20 Steelers 14

Bonus Think - Who cares?

Go Ravens

how about showalter as gm and bring sweet lou out of retirement to manage

The Orioles will screw up this round of GM searching as well. As long as Louis and John Angelos are in the warehouse and/or have anything at all to do with the team, there is little hope.

I am expecting something nearly as screwed up as the Duquette/Flannagan debacle. The only thing preventing this apocalypse is Buck.

I think the Ravens will pull it together this week, and beat the Steelers 20-17 in a nail biter. Suggs gets the game ball for sacking Big Ben and forcing a fumble.
As for the GM, I've lost track of all the possibilities but I'm sure they'll decide on someone before pitchers and catchers report in the spring. Well, I'm hopeful at least.

When you are interviewing Baird, who was a joke in Kansas City as a GM, then you know you are at the BOTTOM of the barrel.
Buck will be gone after 2012 and the O's will reach new depth in being pitiful!

At this point, I would allow Buck to be both GM/Manager, however, hiring a front office staff of Proefrock as VP of Baseball Operations - handling contracts and overseeing player development. The O's hire Cal next year to be Bench Coach for one year. Buck moves to GM full time. In two years, the O's are playoff bound, team value increases by 12%, Angelos sells to Ripken-led group. Ripken subsequently hires brother Billy to bev field manager. Bill manages for 15 years - becoming the best manager in team history - leading the club to 5 WS titles.

Dan, is MLB really re-alligning in 2013 to 2-15 team divisions?

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I don't think anything is fact. Lots of rumors out there

oops...Steelers 31 - Ravens 13. Sorry, not feeling it this week.

Ravens win a typical Baltimore-Pittsburgh slugfest, 21-17. Rice runs for a TD, Flacco passes for one, and the defense scores one, to hold off a late push from Big Ben.

Bonus question: who the heck knows? I think Angelos will end up turning so many people off or away that it ends up being some combination of Buck and Stockstill handling the duties...

@ISitAnywhereAtOsGames

That is great. Delusional, but great!

Ravens 20 - Steelers 30

GM = Buck

Ravens win 21-20 on a 4th quarter interception. Defense will play a major role in this win. John Stockstill becomes O's new GM.

Dan, you have an accurate prediction. While the Ravens defense is indeed excellent, Ben will score. There may well be turnovers induced by the Ravens D, but not enough to overcome the Steelers Offense. The Steelers defense will easily limit the sluggish Ravens offense.

Scott Proefrock is the only candidate that can make the Orioles situation work. Look at his background. Educated at W&M, UMass and held a CPA. He has been with successful programs in Pittsburgh (early 90s) Atlanta (mid-late 90s) and now Philadelphia. While he was let go in Tampa by new management (no disgrace there as that is standard procedure in pro sports) much of the Rays groundwork for success was started during his time. He has trained under John Schuerholz , Bobby Cox, Andy MacPhail, and now the current front office in Philly. He can function under the O's ownership and with a high profile manager in Buck. He won't get tripped up by agents, rules or budgets. He appears to be the only candidate that would not come in with an agenda that would clash with Angelos. I liken him to Kevin Colbert, the GM of the Steelers, who only recently, after years of functioning as the Dir. of Football Operations for Cowher and Tomlin, was given the GM title. All the other candidates are basically the same kind of guy, and as we've seen, two of those kind turned it down. Hire Proefrock and let him get to work.

We should be excited about Duquette. He built the Expos into a winner in a small market and no money and he returned the Red Sox to prominence. It was basically his team that won the 2004 WS. If anyone knows how to compete against the Sox and Yanks he does!

Looking like there may be no Ngata this week, and he's one of the two guys (Suggs the other) who kill Pittsburgh. Ships passing in the night.

Ravens 20
Steelers 24

See you in Pittsburgh in January. Again. Ugh.

GM Pick: Proefrock

I had a dream last night. Lardarius Webb seals the game on a 75 yd INT return for TD.

Ravens win 24-17.

Steelers 28
Ravens 17

I think it's time we start to think maybe Joe Flacco just isn't any good. I heard Bill Simmons talk about this on his B.S. report earlier in the week, how he and many others are starting to think Flacco is just a Matt Cassel/Kyle Orton level QB and that he gets hate mail from Ravens fans at the simple notion that maybe this Flacco isn't that good and isn't going to be that good. He then went on to call Ravens' fans who dismiss that notion entirely as "delusional". I wouldn't go that far, but I think it's a fair thing to start questioning. He's regressed significantly thus far.

As for the GM, I think Allard Baird if he gets an interview. Reason being is that he's been a GM before, wasn't all that successful in the win loss column (though I think he did some good things) and probably sees this as one of the last opportunities he'll have to be a GM again. The other guys, with the exception of Duquette, haven't been one so I think they can be more selective. If they're not going to get the control they feel they need they won't take the job because if they fail they won't get another opportunity someplace else. As for Duquette, been out of the game for WAY too long. Player evaluation has advanced more in the last 10 years than it did for the previous 50 and he was starting the Israeli Baseball League instead of being in the thick of it. No thanks.

If Harrison & Woodley are out - I like our chances a bit better. If Flacco can work the spread and the OL gives him some decent time - I look for Pitta, Dickson & Rice to have big days catching the ball. I don't think their back-up LBs can hang with those 3 on middle routes or routes out of the backfield. They may have to put Troy on Rice and I love RIce in that 1:1 match-up. I like the Ravens 23-17.

RAVENS 24 Steelers 23

As for the O's.... Go Ravens

Stockstill

Ravens 17 - Pittsburgh 31

You took the wind out of my sails. Pittsburgh ain't the Cards. Steelers, 28-9. All we get are three field goals.

As for the GM, I'll steal a reference I heard this morning. The talk was regarding the Redskins QB situation, and the reference was to the scene in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid where they're contemplating a 300 feet jump off a cliff into the river. Redford looks at Neuman and says "I can't swim". Nueman says, "Don't worry, the fall's gonna kill ya". It's all about the fall here. It just doesn't matter who the GM is as long as this dysfunctional warehouse group is really in charge. I mean, just look at this. Cowherd said it yesterday-- they're dithering while the rest of the league moves on. They like to appear contemplative, but they're so paralyzed with analysis that bold, decisive and, yes, teams willing to take a risk, snatch up the talent. FA, management, front office, you name it. It's all the same. Give Angelos a toga and a fiddle so he can play the part of Nero accurately.

DUQUETTE WOULD BE A STEAL.

Angelos should be singing "Nearer my God to thee" as the Orioles sink as quickly as the Titanic.

I'm strongly considering burning my old tri color cartoon bird cap.

bonus think: Barney Gumble

Ravens 21 Steelers 24

Bonus: Maybe Vinnie Cerato?

Ravens 27 - Pittsburg 13 and Steelers only touchdown comes on special teams. The Ravens defense gets one touchdown.

Ravens 27, Steelers 26

GM? At this point, I could care less. None of them will have the authority or the guts to really change things the way they should be changed. So just hire any one of them so we can say we have a GM.

Ravens by a touchdown. Steelers are too cocky and will fold.
New GM will be the one with the best credentials and who can work with Buck. Let's face it, no matter who gets the job there are those ready to condemn him, even if were God Almighty.

Raven 28, Steelers 10

Orioles GM: Doesn't matter. No one with the balls to make things happen will take the job and anyone who would take it will just be another puppet. And either way, the GM won't have the authority necessary to turn things around. Who cares?

I would say John Stockstill, but I am really hoping someone will take this job, hopefully Duquette as he is the best left that didn't turn down the job.

I am going with 24-20 Ravens loss.

It no longer matters who the GM is. They are now interviewing bums and have let the cream go. Typical as hell. Atlanta wants to move out Jurrjens....a top flight pitcher. Do the O's even know this yet? Package Matusz and whatever and get hopping. It would be such a shock to see them actually do something right for a change. If they can't fill the GM job I'll take it for $15 an hour which is exactly right up Angelos alley.

The reason the Orioles had such a hard time finding a new GM was because they had to find someone who could accept the 4 basic rules of the post. Rule #1 You can make all the decisions you want but only with my approval, Rule #2 I'm frugal, Rule #3 It's my toy and I'll break it if I want to, Rule #4 I'm frugal.