Yes, I'm in Cleveland, and it was snowing when the plane landed this afternoon, an hour late. Yeah, I know: boo-hoo, poor sportswriter getting paid to fly around and watch NFL games in person. Still, late is late, snow is snow, and Cleveland is Cleveland.

And, to make matter worse, it was just late enough to remove any opportunity to see LeBron James and the Cavaliers face off at what used to be the Gund (now named, believe it or not, for some online loan program) against the Pistons, on pace for the second 70-win season in NBA history. LeBron, the Cavs and the 70-win season are expected to resurface in America's consciousness in roughly mid-February, after the Super Bowl.

Meanwhile, as previously reported, chaos does indeed reign in the Browns' front office, according to today's Plain Dealer, where the lead story in the entire paper dealt with how ex-Ravens front-office favorite Phil Savage is in a brutal power struggle with team president John Collins. Bottom line: Savage wasn't fired, but he doesn't appear to be getting his way. Interesting tidbit in the story, which I admit I wasn't aware of: the Browns were close to hiring Marvin Lewis away from the Ravens in '01, but passed on him when Butch Davis changed his mind, accepted their offer of full control, and left the University of Miami to take over. Fine choice, there.

It all sort of explains why, even with the wretched season the Ravens had, they're still not in last place in the division. And at this pace, they won't be any time soon.

One last note worth mentioning: traffic on the way to D.C. and in the city left me to see only the second half of the Wizards-Heat game Friday night. So I missed most of Gilbert Arenas' 47 points (mainly because he scored only three in the fourth quarter). But I didn't miss one of the year's nastier dunks, Dwyane Wade completely undressing Antonio Daniels on the left wing before sailing in and throwing down one-handed. By all means, catch a highlight when you can.

Happy New Year.

Posted by David Steele at 6:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

Can this be right? ESPN.com is reporting that Phil Savage is through after one year as the Browns' general manager.

Is that ever going to make for an interesting final weekend in Cleveland, when his current team hosts his old team, the Ravens - who happen to be at a crossroads a year after his successful tenure with them ended.

We'll keep an eye on this throughout the weekend.

Posted by David Steele at 2:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Colleague Rick Maese, our man in the D.R., says on his latest blog post that Jim Duquette is the highest-ranking Orioles front-office person to visit the country, and that he got there fast. In light of what's going on, that says a lot about Duquette, a little about Mike Flanagan (this makes his addition of Duquette seem even more sound, which reflects well on him) - and nothing good about Peter Angelos. The man pulled strings that maybe shouldn't even have been pulled to bring the Cuban baseball team here several years ago, but he can't catch a flight to the D.R. to talk his best player out of a trade demand? Nothing wrong with leaving baseball decisions up to the baseball people, but if ever there was a time for ownership intervention, this would seem to be it. Has he even broken off a phone call to Tejada? Emailed him? Sent a telegram? Smoke signals? A note tied to a pigeon's leg? Hired a local kid to throw a brick through his window with a message tied to it?

Once again - can someone around here say, definitely, that the Orioles want Tejada here?

In not-exactly-related news, Brian Billick is bringing Jim Fassel back, presuming he doesn't get a head-coaching job. This is good. Fassel shouldn't be blamed for the offensive stinking like this. In fact, the way it's played the last two games looks susupiciously similar to how he was drawing it up in a media classroom session (the coordinators broke down the new offensive and defensive schemes for us commoners) last summer. Problem is, it would be better if Fassel did get a head-coaching job, if only to prove that this season hasn't tainted him.

Posted by David Steele at 2:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Just read colleague Rick Maese's reports about Miguel Tejada, and two things popped into my head. First: he gets to spend New Year's in Santo Domingo, and I'm spending mine in Cleveland? What's up with that? Who did I tick off?

Second: the Baseball Town/Football Town question I posted earlier today is about to become even more relevant. The consensus reply has been, this would be more of a baseball town had the owner not run the franchise into the ground the past decade. Now, Tejada has firmed up his objections to what's going on with the Orioles, and his insistence on playing where he can win, hint-hint. Meanwhile, the Tejada-for-Manny-and-Clement talks go on. I can see it already: when they trade away the MVP, the Orioles will shrug and say, "What could we do? He didn't want to be here, we had to make the best deal we could.''

Of course, if they'd done anything to make Tejada want to stay - like, maybe, improving the team, keeping up with the Blue Jays or telling him "We want you to stay'' - he'd want to stay. But as they say, that train done left the station.

Posted by David Steele at 9:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
                    

Now this has been a very interesting last 24 hours. The news about Brian Billick being brought back to coach the Ravens next year, and the New York Times interview with Rafael Palmeiro, became widely known at roughly the same time Wednesday morning. The websites, TV and radio stations and blogs like this one have been buzzing like crazy ever since, and probably will for a long time. Everybody's talking about one story or the other.

But ... it's one story WAY more than the other. It's Brian Billick. The Ravens have shoved everything and everybody out of the picture. You hear a little here, a little there about Palmeiro - and, by extension, about the Orioles' offseason - but it's all Ravens all the time. Even on here, the blog that's been running for about a week now, the few mentions I've made of the Orioles have gotten very little feedback. Wednesday morning, I did little more than post Steve Bisciotti's statement and ask for comment, and I was getting replies within 20 minutes. Same thing when I wrote from Sunday night's game, a string of comments that started during the game and didn't stop until well into Monday.

And that's just those of you connected to your computers or glued to your radios. Out and about in the streets, it's even more tilted toward the Ravens.

Not that I'm breaking any news here, but the Ravens really do own this town. But there has to be a plausible reason, or even an implausible one. Ive heard a few in my year-and-almost-four-months at the Sun, but this is really lopsided. The one mentioned most often: the Orioles have stunk the last eight years, starting right around the time the Ravens began to steer football fans' loyalties away from the Colts and the generational balance began to shift.

When I was little, living down the road in the District Whose Name Dares Not Be Spoken, I got the sense that this city loved the Orioles but was passionate, borderline crazy, about the Colts. I thought that had the Orioles moved, Baltimore's hearts would be broken, but that when the Colts did leave, their hearts were ripped out through their chest cavities. Now, talking about the losing Orioles makes people mad, but talking about the losing Ravens makes people want to kill somebody, even if it's just for talking about the Ravens losing.

Rafael Palmeiro was a huge deal around here, with a big fan base, and while it's understandable why the fans have dropped him like a bad habit, and that bringing Billick back is the story of the day, it's still strange that another public statement by the centerpiece of the biggest story surrounding the Orioles this past season, got carpet-bombed right out of the city's consciousness by the Ravens.

I mean, should I be even a little surprised? I'm not, but honestly, I'm surprised that I'm not surprised. But if I'm the Orioles, I'm not very happy. And if I'm Steve Bisciotti, my jaw is on the floor by the outpouring of reaction. If he wasn't sure that being owner of this team puts this town in the palm of his hand, he probably knows now.

Meanwhile, for those of you not preoccupied by either team, check out the story in this morning's Today section about NBA players and the dress code, by our excellent fashion writer, Tanika White. She's right; I'm not sure this is precisely what David Stern had in mind, but he can't possibly complain, either.

Posted by David Steele at 1:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)
                    

That's the day, two days after the Ravens' season finale in Cleveland, that Brian Billick, vice president Ozzie Newsome and (drum roll, please) owner Steve Bisciotti are scheduled to speak about this season, next season and why Billick is returning.

Nothing else from an official standpoint was coming from the Castle this afternoon. Billick, not one to pass up a chance to expand on any topic when the need suits him, chose to defer all questions about his renewal for next season until Tuesday. The focus, he said, was on the Browns. What can you do; that's his prerogative. But it'll help make Tuesday must-see TV and Wednesday must-read Sun.

Yet this whole story isn't really going to unfold until long after that press conference, at least I don't believe so. I'm figuring that if Billick stays, then the elements in the locker room that rubbed Billick the wrong way, and vice versa, are going. There was enough motivation to shake things up simply because the team sank like a stone this season, but this signals an even bigger housecleaning. Or, if not that, then segments in the locker room getting scared straight by the coach and by the owner who is giving him the benefit of the doubt for next season.

If Billick is on  notice to clean things up next season, however he has to do it, then so is the rest of the team.

But you'll read more about that in tomorrow's paper.

Now, to flip the coin: go see Maryland's men's basketball team play Delaware State (mainly because the Terps have played only once in the past two weeks, and it's the last chance I get until after their early-January ACC road trip)? Or go see the Wizards and Suns (haven't seen them in a while, either, and it's the only time Steve Nash comes to town)?

Posted by David Steele at 4:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

To quote Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti, from this morning's statement from the Castle in Owings Mills: "We have an on-going and extensive process to find ways to win. This included a thorough evaluation of Brian Billick. Collectively, we concluded that continuing with Brian as head coach gives us the best opportunity to win.''

Sometimes, column-writing and blogging are easy (as opposed, say, to pimping, which ain't easy, or so I've heard).

Do you agree or disagree with Bisciotti's decision? Agree or disagree that Billick gives the Ravens the best opportunity to win?

Discuss.

Posted by David Steele at 11:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
                    

My original topic for this post wound up a dud - I had come across a pamphlet that named "long-term steroid users'' as a high-risk group for the degenerative eye disease glaucoma, except that it referred to the medically-approved, prescription-only variety, not the stuff that baseball is working its way around to eliminating.

So I clicked onto ESPN.com for a little inspiration, and immediately encountered a screen-filling, speaker-shattering mini-movie pop-up ad for some car. It wasn't the absolute most annoying thing I could have imagined; for instance, I could have had a red-hot poker plunged into my ear canal at that precise moment. But the full-motion pop-up came close.

Well, it worked. It drove me away from the site and inspired this post. That ad, and the fact that ESPN has now officially taken the reins of Monday Night Football from ABC, reminded me of an email I recently received from one of my trusted inner circle. It was a link to www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com, a college football fan site, where one late November day, someone posted quite an interesting  critique of the network and its corporate parents.

Caution: I didn't take the chance on printing the title because of a questionable word in it, and the language in some of the replies is pretty offensive. But if anyone thought ESPN was a universally beloved and cherished entity, think again.

As for these links and others in previous posts: are you finding that you have to register on the websites to get to them - you know, like with this paper's? Yeah, it annoys the you-know-what out of me, too. If registration is required, let me know. I'll put warnings next to the ones that need it.

Posted by David Steele at 1:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Righthander Kevin Millwood has signed with the Texas Rangers, according to ESPN.com and the Fort Worth Star Telegram.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but once upon a time, long, long ago, wasn't Millwood someone considered high up on the Orioles priority list? If he wasn't, he should have been. Then again, $12 million a year for four years, the reported figures, might be a bit much. Best to reserve judgment on this until more comes out. But right now, we're still waiting for a reason to drop everything and buy tickets for next year.

What a night. I was already in a funky mood from seeing the last of the family head home earlier this evening. Last time I looked, the Wizards were getting smoked by the Lakers, and Kwame had even hit a couple of buckets (yes, he was booed from the moment he went to the scorer's table and every time he touched the ball). Now, the Rangers show signs of being the latest team to leave the Orioles behind.

The winter tradition of griping about the players the Orioles didn't get, is getting pretty tired.

Posted by David Steele at 9:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

So far, everybody's got a different interpretation of Kyle Boller's Lazarus impression, which continued last night against the Vikings. The replies - emails, phone calls and blog responses - so far say that Ravens followers are divided between believing what they saw the last two weeks, and needing to see it happen a lot more than two times.

Hey, the bunch of us columnists at the game last night all took something different out of it. A little peek into the world of covering a late game: thanks to the deadlines for getting into the paper, we don't get much chance to consult with each other before we write and submit. (Actually, it's more like no chance.) But that's not a bad thing; last night, Boller was the story, and John Eisenberg, Peter Schmuck and I couldn't help but pick him as our topics. None of us went at him in quite the same way. You probably can count on Mike Preston to take Boller on in tomorrow's paper, and he'll probably go yet another way.

Me? I'm not buying it yet. These have been two great weeks, but the definition of "consistency'' requires a lot more than that. It's been like a switch has been flipped - but switches flip off again as quickly as they flip on.

Meanwhile, on the off-chance you could use a break from debating Boller, the Lakers (a.k.a Kobe and The Eleven Dwarfs) come to MCI Center tonight to play the Wizards. Fans will be torn between cheering the home team (wins in Denver and Phoenix to finish its Western trip strong), cheering the visiting superstar/ballhog and booing Kwame Brown. Some advice: Brown is making his only visit, and obviously, he's still asking for it.

Or, you could watch the final ABC Monday Night Football game - and knock down a couple of brews, a privilege the New York Jets fans won't have tonight.

Posted by David Steele at 3:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Final: Ravens, 30-23. Looks like the bad omen from the second-half kickoff wasn't so bad.

Kyle Boller, two second-half touchdown passes that made you wonder who had inhabited his jersey. A couple of big stops by the Ravens defense in the fourth quarter - including Adalius Thomas's strip of Brad Johnson in the final minute and a half. Your basic brain-lock by Mike Tice (maybe he thinks his timeouts are saved over until the next game). And the Ravens are on an actual, honest-to-goodness winning streak.

But you almost can't blame Tice for thinking that punting with seven minutes to go, down 24-20 and stalling near midfield, was a good idea. He was counting on his re-made, re-tooled, expensive new defense to get the ball back. He was expecting it, knowing what we usually see from the Ravens offense. Not tonight, though. Go figure. Boller marched them downfield to a field goal, making it a seven-point game.

Apparently, the national spotlight suits them (two wins by 78-23 in a span of seven days). Too bad they've probably already played themselves out of any national TV games until at least 2007. Unless Brett Favre hangs around an extra season to throw 25 more interceptions.

Meanwhile, a correction: a mention in a previous post of my sister's collard greens, failed to acknowledge my brother's potato salad. We regret the error. Merry Christmas, and remember, Kwanzaa starts tomorrow.

Posted by David Steele at 11:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The second-half kickoff is moments away. Earlier in the second quarter, the paid attendance was announced at more than 70,000. The announcer was immediately put on Santa's naughty list for next year.

So was Chris McAlister. Ed Reed made the play of the half in the second quarter when he drilled Koren Robinson right at the first-down marker on third-and-three at the Vikings 41. Punting time. Except that McAlister was called for illegal contact beyond the five yards allowed. First down. Eight plays later, the Vikings scored to go ahead 14-7. They led 14-10 at the half.

More bad news: Ravens fumbled the second-half kickoff. Vikings ball at the Ravens 26. You might not want to keep watching for more updates.

Posted by David Steele at 10:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Happy holidays from M&T Bank Stadium, where kickoff between the Ravens and Vikings is half an hour away. If you're still pondering making the trip, well - the streets are clear and the lots aren't full yet, if ya know what I mean. This might set another attendance record, as long as they count tickets sold, but bodies in the seats might be a little low.

The games this afternoon were worth it. The Pistons kept right on being the best team in the NBA; they completely handled the Spurs, although I was caught a little off guard by the sight of Manu Ginobili being interviewed in street clothes in the stands. He's been out for a while, and apparently isn't close to getting back.

Shaq and Kobe remain as warm toward each other as always. Good to see Lisa Salters, longtime ESPN West Coast reporter (back when I was on the coast as well) getting some network face-time - except that she got mostly top-of-the-head time in her postgame on-court interview with Shaq. Maybe the greatest on-air reporter-athlete height differential since at least the days when Bob Costas was working games. To no one's surprise, when she asked Shaq the inevitable question about whether anything has thawed with Kobe, he gave her the silent stare. She re-phrased it, and he gave the same answer. It's his standard response now. He still does dead silence better, funnier and more effectively than anyone else. Shaq did give her the no-offense-intended hug afterward.

Too bad ABC didn't stick around long enough to figure out why Gary Payton and Lamar Odom had to be separated after the game. But at least we saw Kobe miss the game-winner at the buzzer for the second straight Christmas.

I would say something insightful about the Bears-Packers game, but I'd rather say something insightful about my sister's collard greens, which were getting more of my attention at the time.

More once the game starts...

Posted by David Steele at 8:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Yesterday's news just didn't get any better. No sooner had I posted the remembrance of Elrod Hendricks, then I turned on the TV and saw the report about the son of Colts coach Tony Dungy. What an awful holiday season this is in the sports world.

So, just as it's hard to think about things like whether a Miguel Tejada-Mark Prior trade might happen in light of Elrod's passing, it's going to be really hard to watch the Colts and Seahawks tomorrow afternoon. That would have been worth pausing the Christmas Eve preparations to check out, but now it will just be uncomfortable.

But besides being heartbroken over Dungy's situation, I'm also angry. All day yesterday and today there were reports all over the papers, TV and Internet praising the strength, warmth and character of the coach. Which was all true, of course, but it has been true for years, and true all throughout the Colts' undefeated season - yet it took until now for anyone to spend time reporting on it. Instead, for the past month, Dungy's entire contribution to the run at perfection, and to one of the great seasons in recent memory, was reduced to a pointless national debate about whether he might ruin it at the end by benching his starters.

Sports Illustrated finally got around to a real piece on him in this week's issue, which obviously was written before the tragedy. I can't explain it - actually, I don't even want to speculate on it. But sometimes fans and media, even with 24-7 coverage and conversation about any and all subjects, end up completely whiffing on a story that's right under our noses.

I promise, some lighthearted stuff is coming soon. I hope.

Posted by David Steele at 10:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

To the audience for my grand entrance into the Sun's blogging world, welcome. Thanks for reading me in the paper so far, including what I wrote this morning about Towson basketball player Gary Neal.

My plan was to introduce myself, talk about what I have in mind for this blog, explain the assistance I'll be getting from my blog consultants, whose input has already been chronicled a select group of advisors (they were the influence for my first column back in September 2004, and advised me on my recent list of the most selfish athletes ever). Speaking of which, I was going to get in a few digs at No. 1 (and still holding), Kobe Bryant, for magnanimously letting everybody know what a team player he is, so uninterested in personal accomplishments, by sitting out the fourth quarter the other night when he scored 62.

That was the plan. Then I got this morning's paper, took off the wrapper and immediately felt sick. Elrod Hendricks was dead. I'm not feeling very funny right now.

I only got to know him a little bit this season, and mostly in the second half of the season, when the Orioles went down the drain. I knew the name, of course; any lifelong Orioles fan would. I was glad to meet him, and, of course, relieved, since he had just come back from the stroke he'd suffered at spring training. But it truly became an honor to know him when we started talking, usually in the dugout before games, after the manager did his press get-togethers.

Elrod told the truth, about his interactions with the game and the organization and life. He told it with sharpness, with wit and with incredible integrity. The conversations with him were often the only enjoyable times at those late-season games, and I always looked forward to them.

I was saddened when he was let go at the end of the season. Now, sad only begins to describe it.

So my hello ends up being a goodbye. I'm with everybody else. We'll miss you terribly, Elrod Hendricks.

Posted by David Steele at 11:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)